How Good Triumphed
by tremor3258
Summary: Written for a contest to see how cliched a Mary-Sue could be come up with. I feel dirty.


How Good Triumphed

  
  


by Tremor3258

  
  


Author's Note: I feel very, very dirty writing this story. I write a lot of OC fics, but I do my best to keep them from being a self-insert character, which is basically me in the story, only far cooler. And since I usually have problems with that, this is going to be even worse, as we're going for a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, a person who is practically perfect in every way, can never fail, and always, always, gets whoever they want, romantic-wise. Unfortunately, it sounded like so much fun that my mind started creating possibilities. This one's for the RiD's unique blend of new stuff with references to the old.

  
  


Curse you Wayward. :)

  
  


********* are scene breaks and I'm done with the opening author's note, so, appropriately here's one now.

  
  


**********

  
  


"Emergency!" TAI reported inside the secret Autobot base, "Decepticons have been sighted in grid sector 47!" 

  
  


Optimus Prime, leader of the Earth-defense Autobots, walked into the room behind her. "That's where our seismographs picked up activity, correct?"

  
  


"Yes, Optimus," reported the sentient program, "The activity has localized in the last two kilocycles, and police traffic indicated a big black tanker-truck turned into a giant robot."

  
  


"They must have found some other way of trying to control Fortress Maximus," Optimus said, thinking out loud. He straightened up, looking determined despite his face mask, "TAI, initiate battle protocol! Get the Autobot Brothers together to meet me there." Optimus started to run for the space bridge terminus, before pausing and turning around. "Oh, get the Spychangers to enter the Grid four cycles after we do. If we're lucky, they'll be distracted enough to allow us to recapture Cerebros." TAI nodded to Optimus as he smoothly transformed into his fire-truck mode, before she started dispatching Optimus's orders.

  
  


****************

  
  


Sky-bite, commander of the Predacon faction, grinned ferally as he looked over the mountainside that was grid sector 47. A series of black and purple crates were being unpacked, unveiling cannons. "A gift from the stars/Insurance for victory now/Destroyed Autobots," Sky-Bite said, bowing. His trio of Predacon underlings made dutiful sounds of applause. A blast of purple energy suddenly struck the rocks near them, scattering the Predacons.

  
  


"Sky-bite! Stop clowning around and get the last of those cannons in place! The Autobots will be here momentarily!" Scourge ordered. The Decepticon had been placed in command of the operation by Galvatron, and had decided that the Predacons would do most of the grunt work of establishing the trap. Scourge had spent some time causing explosions in the mountains to mimic seismic activity. Then, the Decepticons had allowed themselves to be sighted, and when the Autobots drove up the mountain, they'd go right into the path of the firepower.

  
  


"That Scourge," growled Sky-bite, "Someday Galvatron will realize Scourge's treachery, and then I will be second-in-command." Another energy blast hit near him, and Sky-bite yelped as he jumped backward. "I'm right on it, Scourge!" the Predacon called down sweetly, before going back to grumbling as he wrestled the last few cannons into position.

  
  


"Hey boss, "called Slapper, generally the spokesbot of Sky-bite's underlings, "We've got the last cannons on the other side of the ridge ready, but they're really creeping me out." The Predacons nodded. The cannon barrels were twisted into bizarre shapes, with conduits set in ways that didn't quite seem to follow from the Predacons normal ideas of gunnery. "Not to mention the fact we don't have to plug them into anything. Why's that?" 

  
  


"I don't know," said Sky-bite, before brightening, "Of course! Galvatron is holding back the energy until after Scourge gets everything set up, allowing me to put the final pieces into place! I knew that mighty Galvatron respected me after all!" The three Predacon underlings looked at their commander with unease as he broke into all-out laughter, with enough volume no one heard the sound of jet engines rapidly approaching.

  
  


"Sky-bite, I see you're failing to get my plan into place as usual," said a loud voice behind the Predacon. Terror-stricken, Sky-bite turned around to see the primarily white visage of the mighty Galvatron, who was currently in his hand mode. Clutched within were several cubes, glowing with a black-purple light, as well as Cerebros, Fortress Maximus's brain, and primary command key. Cerebros was silent with eyes dark, evidently in stasis mode.

  
  


Sky-bite began to stammer, but Galvatron cut across his pleas, "I have no wish to listen to your drivel today. Get the last few cannons into position now, so that I may power them up!" Galvatron transformed into his robot mode, setting Cerebros to the ground carefully, before cackling softly as he caresses the black-purple cubes in his hands. After a moment, he held one of the two cubes in the air, with black energy shooting out into the cannons. "Excellent. Now no force on Earth can stop us!" 

  
  


"Think again, Galvatron!" roared a distant voice. Optimus Prime and the Autobot brothers raced up the mountain. 

  
  


"Excellent. It's always appropriate for the guest of honor to be on time for their wake," giggled Galvatron. "Open fire!" Scourge and Sky-bite looked downtrodden. They wanted to open fire with the cannons. 

  
  


"Optimus! The Build Team just called! They're fighting Ruination down by the harbor!" reported TAI over the radio.

  
  


Optimus murmured to himself, "If Ruination is there, then what makes Scourge think he could take us on all with just the Predacons." Optimus's metaphorical optics widened, "All Autobots, scatter! It's a trap!"

  
  


The Autobots started to swerve wildly just as massive blasts of laser energy tore up the terrain around them, forming craters almost as big as Optimus Prime. "I see Santa was good to someone this year!" noticed Side Burn as shrapnel dug at his paint job. "Ah, slag! I just got waxed!"

  
  


"Save it, you! It's illegal to use this sort of equipment without a permit near an inhabited area. I'll get into weapons range," Prowl roared, engaging his boosters to charge through the cannon fire, closer than they could correct.

  
  


"I think Tow-Line's rubbing off on him," X-Brawn commented softly, causing Side Burn to snigger. 

  
  


"Enough! We have to get close to those cannons and take them out," Optimus said. A blast exploded right in front of Optimus, causing him to leap into the air over the pit, sending sparks skittering from his underbody as it scraped against the landscape. "I am open to suggestions, though," he said shakily.

  
  


"We're on it Optimus," X-Brawn assured his leader. "X-Brawn, super-charge mode!" X-Brawn's color scheme changed to more green and sporty. Under the hood, he became much faster and more maneuverable.

  
  


"Side-burn, super-charge mode!" Side-burn roared, becoming bright red and now simply leapt the craters formed by the still-firing guns.

  
  


"Prowl, super-charge mode!" Prowl changed to a much more police-oriented color scheme, being blue and white instead of a flat white. His afterburners roared to double-power, thanks to his Matrix energy boost. 

  
  


"The cannons aren't maneuverable enough to hit them!" Galvatron roared in frustration, "Scourge, Sky-Bite, slow them down!" ordered the Decepticon, practically frothing in rage.

  
  


"Of course, mighty Galvatron!" said the two in unison. Energy beams lanced out from Sky-Bite's spark crystal as well as Scourge's shoulder-mounted laser cannons. Aiming down the hill, they had a bit better range situation. Both targeted Prowl, as he was the closest one to the front. Being so focused on forward acceleration, Prowl wasn't able to dodge, and several shots flipped him over to his back in car mode.

  
  


"Side-burn, transform!" Side-burn yelled, changing to his robot mode to run over to help his brother. "Prowl are you all right?" he asked inanely, looking over the car for wounds

  
  


"Side-burn, get away from there!" Optimus yelled in sudden fright. 

  
  


"What, why?" Side-burn asked, before some sixth sense made him turn to look up the hill before one of the massive energy blasts hit him full in the chest. Trailing smoke, Side-burn plummeted to the ground. He began to get up shakily, but four more energy blasts hit at the same time, causing him to collapse as energy streamed from his hull, reverting to his normal mode. 

  
  


"Excellent, mighty Galvatron," simpered Sky-Bite, looking out as cannons reverted Prowl to his regular mode as well. "Where did you find such weapons?"

  
  


"I will tell you," Galvatron said coyly, "Because I already have them, removing them from even your ability to damage my plans!" Sky-Bite looked hurt, but Galvatron ignored this as he continued, "The cannons were lying our base, lacking energy. However, I've recently found a new energy technology. These high-density cubes have finally allowed me to power them."

  
  


*Hmm,* thought Scourge to himself, *It would have taken half our energy resources to power this assault normally, but only one cube to casually keep everyone at bay. Even now, X-Brawn falls as well. If I could get my hands on one of those, Optimus Prime and Galvatron would be no match for me!*

  
  


Optimus, meanwhile, charged forward into the killing fields, skillfully avoiding each blast while calling back to base. "TAI, this is Optimus. We've got trouble. I think I can take out these cannons, but depending on the backup, we'll need Rail Racer to deal with Ruination. Also, call Skid-Z to pick up Koji. Fort Max may be in the area, and we're going to need his help." TAI quickly confirmed the order.

  
  


"I'm finally in range! Optimus Prime, battle mode!" Optimus commanded, quickly transforming and merging with his trailer. He ducked, twisted, and rolled as blasts rained down around him. "Maximum power to ladder-cannon," he ordered, getting a beep in response from his on-board computer, and then another beep as the power-cells in his freeze-cannon reached capacity. Optimus started to feel drained from the power transfer, but managed to still keep ahead of the deadly blasts. "Blizzard blast!" he yelled, quickly swiveling his cannon into position. A massive hail of freezing air fell over the cannons, covering them with frost and powering them down. Optimus sighed, slumping due to the power drain.

  
  


Galvatron, for once, was unfazed. "Very clever Optimus, but I doubt you can do that again! I, on the other hand, have no such limitation!" Galvatron raised his other hand, containing a second black energon cube, into the air, squeezing it and letting power rain down over the cannons. The energy was sufficient to melt the ice, and the cannons once more began to track Optimus. Optimus yelled as blast after blast hit his powerful armor, sending him to one knee as his power began to fail.

  
  


"Fall! Fall!" Galvatron commanded, "I've waited to long to see this day!" A salvo of energy hit Galavtron in his back, smacking him, but he was far too powerful to go down from one strike, even an unexpected one. Galvatron turned to find Ultra Magnus, Rail Racer, and the Spychangers waiting there, guns smoking.

  
  


"Sorry, Galvy, but no one does that to my brother but me!" Ultra Magnus declared, using his weapon platform once again. Rail Racer added his firepower as well, while the Spychangers shot forward to deal with the cannons

  
  


"Dragon mode!" Galvatron yelled, transferring to his double-headed mode. "Protect the cannons!" Galvatron commanded, "Twin-dragon breath!" Rail Racer and Magnus grunted as the powerful flames struck their hulls, but remained unfazed. The Predacons rushed forward to engage the Spychangers at the same time.

  
  


"Curses! Cannons, attack the big ones!" Galvatron yelled as the Autobot firepower hit him again, now starting to get scared. Scourge stepped forward to engage as well, having been busy watching Optimus Prime suffer.

  
  


Scourge stepped forward, "But sir! We nearly have Optimus Prime! We can easily hold them off for a moment..." Scourge was knocked down by Galvatron's tail. 

  
  


"You dare question me, Scourge? Cannons, attack them!" Galvatron yelled. The deadly arsenal shifted around to point at the backup Autobots. Ultra Magnus blew three of them apart before they could finish aiming, but paid for it with a heavy combined assault by Sky-Bite, Scourge, and Galvatron. As Ultra Magnus went down temporarily, Sky-Bite got blasted by Rail Racer. Sky-Bite had pretty good armor, but was very lightweight, and the gestalt's heavy blast knocked him off the ridge into a pit. 

  
  


The Predacons didn't go help their leader, not out of any disloyalty, but they had their hands full due to the Spychangers. Each of the little Autobots' firepower was enough to knock the air out of a Predacon, but there were six of them, each insanely maneuverable and each with the ability to vanish occasionally. The cannons helped hem in the Spychangers, but that battle was still a stalemate.

  
  


However, with the Predacons keeping the Spychangers busy and the two most powerful Decepticons taking on Ultra Magnus, the cannons' self-targeting mechanisms slotted on Team Bullet Train. Rail Racer was very nearly as maneuverable as a typical Autobot, thanks to some excellent thruster systems. Unfortunately, a typical Autobot would have difficulty evading the cannons, and he was six times the size of a normal Autobot. Still, that size translated into better armor. Rail Racer simply shrugged off the first shot, despite having his shoulder armor clipped open, and then unloaded into the nearest cannon with his own weaponry, causing the cannon to vaporize in a dark cloud of energy.

Rail Racer took out three more of the cannons, with about three dozen to go, when Galavatron finally noticed. A howl of rage echoed across the battle field, and Galvatron transformed into his jet mode. Rail Racer, busy taking out the cannons, despite the damage increasing on his frame, didn't notice until Galvatron rammed directly into Rail Racer's chest. 

  
  


The mighty combiner went down, as a screech of armor tearing was heard across the field. Galvatron returned to his dragon mode in anger, massive scratches along his chest from where his armor, empowered as he was, had rent under the massive forces unleashed. 

  
  


But most of the force had been directed away from Galvatron, and Rail Racer's chest had been broken open, revealing the tangle of delicate mechanisms underneath. Using his teeth, Galvatron's heads ripped away the outer layer of circuitry. Rail Racer's optics flickered out as he went into stasis. Galvatron continued, however, digging for the Spark that held Rail Racer's lifeforce.

  
  


A series of explosive energy blasts hit Galvatron in the side, knocking him away from Railer Racer. Galvatron turned to face the current threat. Ultra Magnus cursed mentally. Prior to his upgrade, Galvatron, while powerful, had been more of a coward and ran away quickly after taking some damage. Galvatron, unfortunately, was fully appreciative of his new form's ability to take punishment, and those levels hadn't been close to being reached. Scourge was still operational, and there were far too many of those cannons. Galvatron was out of Omega Prime's league, and with Optimus still immobile, compared to his scanners, Magnus was starting to worry that the Autobot stream of victories had run out.

  
  


"Don't worry, Magnus!" shouted Crosswise, one of the Spychangers, coming up from behind him. "We'll keep those cannons busy for you." Magnus nodded, preferring to split his fire in between Scourge and Galvatron. Three of the Spychangers were still on line, and there fire started to dig into the cannons.

  
  


"Battle base, target the Spychangers!" ordered Scourge. His trailer unfolded itself into its combat mode, launching everything from plasma disks to heavy missile fire. Scourge added his own lasers to the attacks as well. 

  
  


The Spychangers were brave and well-trained, and even as Scourge's firepower pushed them past their limits, they managed to take out a dozen more of the cannon, leaving the line of death broken with only a few cannons remaining. Galvatron stopped to watch appreciatively. The Spychangers had a whole bag of tricks they could use to outmaneuver his plans, and they usually went through battle unscathed. Magnus took the opportunity to do some damage as well, taking out most of the rest of the cannons, leaving perhaps eight still operational in some respect, on the farthest part of the ridge from Magnus. 

Still, that meant the single most powerful Transformer on the planet, and another Transformer who effectively equaled Magnus, were left against him. Ultra Magnus knew he was one of the Autobot's finest warriors, and he would fight to the end, but unless they got some more help now, things were not looking good for them or Earth. Burst of high-energy flames tore at his armor, but Magnus tore through the pain and kept fighting. Prime would never let him forget it if he lost to these Decepticon scum. Powered by Magnus's desperation, energy began to build within his chest panels.

  
  


Optimus, meanwhile, was also struggling to get up. He could see what was happening on the ridge, and the defeat of his troops, but between battle damage and energon depletion, he could barely move. Dark spots blackened his armor, which were lit by electricity in the middle from eternal damage. Optimus finally, after what seemed like an eternity, took a step, but collapsed afterwards. 

  
  


"I can't let Galvatron win! The people of Earth are counting on me!" Optimus struggled to rise again, but failed. "I won't let you win, Galvatron!" Responding to Optimus's will, energy started to build there as well. After a moment, golden blasts of Matrix energy erupted from each, merging into the sky above. A tearing sound was heard as space was created where none had existed. The glowing red walls of a space bridge transport could be seen, and the feeling of something unbearably huge approaching pressed down for a moment. 

  
  


It passed, and the gate closed. Revealed in the tracers of energy was a sleek attack jet, with a copper and black body and red wings. It started to fall from the sky, but its engines quickly sputtered into life. Several missile racks on the wings were evidently empty, but two large Gatling cannon poked out of the forward fuselage. 

  
  


"Cannons, destroy that thing!" Galvatron ordered. The cannons swivelled and pointed up, launching midnight bolts at the plane, which seemed very surprised as it started to turn through the air.

  
  


"Mighty Megatron, it just appeared out of nowhere!" exclaimed Scourge, "We have no idea what it could be!" He was heavily damage and wasn't looking forward to having to attack something else. 

  
  


"It came out of a space bridge, Scourge, it has to be an Autobot!" Galvatron roared, watching the jet twist around frantically as air molecules were obliterated mere inches away from its hull. Galvtron smiled in satisfaction, and went to check on the Autobots.

  
  


Scourge nodded reluctantly, "I suppose there is a certain degree of truth to that." Scourge peered at the scene and then said hesitantly, "Um, mighty Galvatron, you may want to have the cannons stop tracking where that thing is and just cut off its escape." 

  
  


"Why is that?" Galvatron asked, sounding distracted, as he was busy kicking Ultra Magnus while he was down. 

  
  


"Because the cannons were designed to deal with ground vehicles, and with most of the cannons gone, they're aren't proper cover arcs. Sooner or later, he'll be in position for a strafing run," Scourge said, wincing as he anticipated Galvatron's reaction.

  
  


The Decepticon leader did not disappoint, "WHAT?" Galvatron looked up in time to catch what was going on. The lasers' computers anticipated a great deal of the energy from the blasts to be transferred to something solid, and instead they were merely ionizing the air, jamming their radar. As the shots went more and more wild, the plane swivelled around and unleashed a barrage of fire from its two cannons, shredding through the remnants of the artillery below. 

  
  


Galvatron quickly used his dragon breath attack, balls of flames exploding around the jet, the shockwave slapping the jet around like a ball bearing in a clothes drier. The jet started to fly closer to the ground, and Galvatron roared in triumph. But Galvatron, as usual, celebrated prematurely.

  
  


"Beast mode!" said the jet in a strong, confident voice. As the jet approached the ground lower, the wings folded inwards and up, overlapping on the jet's top. The cockpit shifted down and into the hull, as the nosecone split into two halves. The forward fuel pods and rear engines shifted into legs as the nosecone halves unfolded into larger armor sections before covering the main body over the wings. A tail and a head then extended from the body. Now an anklysaur, the Transformer dropped the few remaining feet to the ground, skidding and plowing a path through solid rock as the last of his velocity was stopped. The transformer in this mode was perhaps the size of an Autobot brother, with golden armor and copper trim. Spikes extended along the sides, and a massive battle club tipped the end fo his tail.

  
  


"Twin dragon breath!" roared Galvatron again, but the Transformer merely closed his eyes as the heat and flame washed over his shell without any visible damage. Then, the Transformer moved forward, picking up a great deal of straight-line velocity, as he headed up the ridge. Despite blow after blow striking his armor, the Transformer was unfazed before ramming into Galvatron, knocking the dragon onto his back. 

  
  


"Tremor, maximize!" the anklysaur shouted, parts swiveling around. Hind legs straightened to become normal legs, as the shell folded down to provide cover for the arms and forward torso, revealing the folded wings on the back. The beast head folded down over the chest to reveal a robot head, with a blue visor covering the eyes, as well as a mottled copper and gold crest worked into the head.

  
  


Tremor slammed his foot down right over Galavatron's Spark crystal. In a flash of light, he summoned a weapon system from subspace, consisting of a heavy weapon resembling a grenade launcher on a rifle mount. His two plane-mode cannons were mounted near the end, at a 45-degree angle to each other, with a large crystalline barrel taking up the rest of the length. Tremor swung the weapon to point at Scourge, who had drawn his Sword of Fury and was quickly advancing towards him.

  
  


"Hellstorm cannon!" Tremor commanded proudly. Bolts of gold energy slammed into each other from the cannons, and the golden cloud of energy created was accelerated by the tube, exploding outwards to cover Scourge with his fury. Scourge roared in pain as the powerful energy played over his exposed circuits, before collapsing to the ground.

  
  


"Very well played, Maximal," Galvatron said, slightly muffled due to being stood upon. He chuckled at Tremor's look of surprise, "Yes, I can sense what you are. But I can also sense your weariness! Look around. The Autobots are dying. I doubt you have the power to finish me off and save the Autobots." 

  
  


Tremor didn't hesitate, stepping off Galvatron. "Go," he ordered dramatically, "But consider yourself warned. Don't make this end up being time borrowed against their lives." 

  
  


Galvatron gave a mock bow after standing up. "Of course," he replied smoothly. "Predacons, Scourge! Retreat!" he bellowed. Scourge shakily transformed to his tanker truck mode and roared off, Cerebros riding on top. After a moment, the battered Predacons crept from their burrows and ran after the two Decepticons, plaintively calling for them to wait for them.

  
  


Tremor waited for a moment to ensure they were leaving, before closing his eyes and concentrating. A golden aura surrounded him for a moment, before light drifted away from the aura to cover the fallen Autobots. Their most grievous wounds were healed, armor sealing over deadly weaknesses. Tremor collapsed into his beast mode upon finishing, and eyes closed as even his powerful will was overcome by the need to recharge.

  
  


Two or so cycles later, Skid-Z rushed onto the field, grinding to a halt and popping his cockpit to allow Koji to leave, though he spun his wheels impatiently while the boy got out, before transforming. 

  
  


"What happened here?" Koji asked in surprise, looking at the battered Autobots.

  
  


"I don't know, Koji," said the race-obsessed Autobot, "But let's get them back to base so they'll have a chance to tell us." 

  
  


********

  
  


This is the Author, just reminding everyone that we're getting into a really weird area here. Brace yourselves.

  
  


**********

  
  


When the Maximal finally regained conscious, he opened the armored shields on his optics slightly, noting with surprise artificial light, as well as some tube running into a leg, until his memory circuits caught up with him. It had been awhile since he had slept indoors, due to his long and arduous mission. Despite the fact he was probably among friends, old habits died hard, and Tremor stayed as still as he could consciously manage as he listened to the sounds around him.

  
  


A few quiet voices, probably thirty or so meters away. The hum of energon being transferred nearby, probably to the fueling tube inserted into his right leg. Tremor thought over the battle. That had been a mixed force of Decepticons and Predacons, which was impossible where he had come from, but he doubted any force which could stand up to the number of Autobots he had seen would be foolish enough to approach a new player on the battlefield without a careful examination.

  
  


Tremor made his decision. The transwarp tunnel was supposed to take him back to Cybertron, but a great plea for help had reached his ears, but with his base still requiring repairs it could only get on Cybertron, he had been forced to come alone. He had to assume he was in safe surroundings, and hoped he could get the information he needed here.

  
  


Tremor moaned slightly and stretched, surprised at how stiff he felt. He checked his internal chronometer, and winced. He'd been out for almost an entire day. It wasn't unexpected, given the wounds he had taken, but Tremor hated recovery time, as it also meant the foes of light throughout the universe were given more time in their wicked deeds.

  
  


Tremor opened his eyes fully. A large red robot with an Optimus-style helmet was talking to a small feminine-looking figure. Tremor studied her more closely. That was either a Micromaster-sized Pretender, or that was a human in the colors of an Autobot Combat Coordinator. 

  
  


"Ah, it's good to see you're awake," stated the robot. Tremor could feel great power emanating from the Transformer's frame, and the Maximal realized that this was one of the ones he had seen earlier, but with a less bulky build, as well as sans a ladder and with the addition of windows on his chest. "My name's Optimus Prime," the robot continued, introducing himself, "I'm the leader of Autobot forces guarding this planet." Optimus pointed down to the small girl, "This is TAI, our computer system." Tremor felt better knowing this. Humans were surprisingly capable for their size, but he preferred they were not dragged into the Transformers' struggles whenever possible. 

  
  


Tremor ducked his head respectively, "It's good to see the naming conventions are followed here. In this form, my name is Tremor, and I'm an operative of the Allspark as well as Cybertron's Council of Elders."

  
  


Optimus bowed back, though not as deep. Tremor had said he was of nearly the same rank as Optimus, and though the Autobots had been forced to stay out of contact with Cybertron in order to attract Megatron to finally bring him to justice, it was very likely the triple-changer in front of him was telling the truth. That sort of raw power he had displayed, according to TAI's report, was only given out to the greatest of Cybertronians. 

  
  


"I'd like to thank you, on behalf of my troops, for your rescue. Galvatron's forces had never had that kind of firepower before," stated Optimus grimly. 

  
  


Tremor shook his head in a negative response. "I'll need to look at your sensor logs to make certain, but I believe I'll need to thank you for calling me here with the Matrix. It's possible you've led to me one of the secrets of a powerful evil force I've been fighting." 

  
  


"I doubt it," Optimus said, "Galvatron was a leader of one of the pirate groups in this area. My force was sent out almost twenty years ago to guard this planet in case it was attacked. We disabled his base, forcing him to remain here." Optimus looked pained as he continued summarizing, "The only reason he's so powerful is because he managed to capture several Autobot items that were thought to be lost in this sector. We've still got a chance to beat him, but we need to recapture Fortress Maximus's control program."

  
  


Tremor winced. Fortress Maximus was a legend, one of the most powerful defenders ever built... and at the time, the designers had not trusted simply giving control of Fortress Maximus to Fortress Maximus, placing in a number of exterior devices to chain the great robot's power. "I hope it doesn't come to that." Tremor ducked his head and said in a beseeching tone, "Optimus Prime, sir. I'm willing to take this under my authority, but with the current circumstance, we need to contact Cybertron. We should be able to get reinforcements. And if not that, I have some equipment that hopefully made its way there. Without it, my Omnimatrix is only as powerful as a typical Matrix. " 

  
  


"Omnimatrix?" TAI asked suspiciously. 

  
  


"It's a reflection of all the great Matrixes handed out by the Elders," Tremor stated, "I was granted it to fulfill my mission, and I'm assuming the Matrix Optimus bears was given for a similar reason." Optimus nodded. Termor sighed, "Unfortunately, in my current state, I can't bear its full power." 

  
  


Optimus made a noise of understanding, "Yes, my brother and I share a Matrix, and when we fuse our energies through it, we're capable of much more." 

  
  


"Exactly," Tremor said, before transforming to his robot mode to get off the bed, though he was still a little shaky. "Unfortunately, the lesson on Matrix technology will have to await. I must see your sensor logs. If what I believe to be true is located there, then both our missions may yet see success!"

  
  


****************

  
  


Galvatron, tired and irritated, stomped out of his repair bay in robot mode. Sky-bite, standing by with a warm drink and snacks, was casually backhanded into a wall as Galvatron strode towards his private chambers. Seeing that their lord was in one of his moods, the other evil Transformers cowered against the side of corridors as Galvatron strode through his base. Upon reaching his inner sanctum, he sealed the door and surveyed the room.

  
  


Satisfied that no one was inside, Galvatron walked to his communications equipment and punched in an encryption code known only to him on Earth. After several interminable minutes, someone picked up on the other end. Galvatron, scourge of the Earth, bended to one knee before that which was on the screen.

  
  


A Transformer, armored in green and grey alloys, horned helmet riding low over dark red eyes and with a mouth like the gates to Hell itself. Spikes jutted for the forehead, as exterior tubes carried the great power to keep this being alive, for, though it was not visible on the screen, the Transformer was on the same scale as Fortress Maximus himself. Galvatron looked up in surprise upon hearing heavy breathing. Several fissures were seen near one eye, and a crack in the helmet had not been there last time. However, the evil at the heart of this foul one still burned bright. Galvatron, despite being one of the most powerful Transformers to exist, knew he was but a mouthful to this one.

"Who dares communicate with the Liege Maximo, progenitor of evil?" rasped the figure. Galvatron ducked down again. The voice had not diminished in energy at all, despite the visible wounds. The Liege smiled, a horrific sight indeed, "Ah, Galvatron. I trust you have made good use of my gift? Is yet another Matrix destroyed?"

  
  


Galvatron nodded, without taking his eyes off the ground. "Indeed, great one. The antimatter cubes were most useful. Unfortunately, a new figure arrived upon the field as the greater portion of my troops were destroyed. Liege Maximo," Galvatron hesitated for a moment, "He was a Maximal triple-changer, and I detected almost incalculable Matrix power within him." 

  
  


Galvatron clutched his ears in agony as the Maximo let out a roar of pure fury. "Primus Convoy! It's impossible he survived that trap! Half of my troops faced him in open battle!" raged the primordial evil, falling into dark mutterings.

  
  


Galvatron, pleased to discover a weakness in the knowledge of this supposed omniscient being, corrected the Maximo, "Lord, he stated his name as Tremor." 

  
  


Maximo stopped muttering, and then grinned. Now looking at it, even Galvatron felt repulsed. "Did he know? My trap nearly worked then, if he's been reduced to his original level." Maximo spent several minutes thinking, before speaking again. 

  
  


Galvatron, who had nearly nodded off while standing, started when the mighty bellow echoed around his chamber. "Galvatron, I am coming from the Hub to Earth. Meanwhile, I will transfer you a set of space-time coordinates. Use this communication gear, and it can transport small quantities of antimatter from the event horizon of a black hole I know of. This will provide you a constant energy source, and a tiny portion of your dark Spark's energy will allow you to form the high-density cubes. In return, you shall destroy the Autobots with them."

  
  


"Why not destroy all of them with it?" Galvatron asked, visions of what he could do with an unlimited supply of antimatter, which had the greatest efficiency of any fuel source in the universe.

  
  


"You may try to destroy Tremor, but you must attack the Autobots first to have a chance!" roared the Liege, "Primus Convoy is far too powerful for the likes of you to engage if he has any support. The Autobots will expect the usual, but you will be ten times as powerful once you partake of the dark energon. He will sense the energies, but emerge too late to be of use. Here are the coordinates. Get to work quickly!" ordered the Liege, as a small string of alphanumerics was printed by the console, before the signal winked out.

  
  


"Yes, 'oh great one'," chuckled Galvatron as he read the string. "But now I know where your power comes from, and I can take it all for myself. I do hope Optimus survives long enough to see his troops die!" Galvatron chuckled at the image of Optimus in his mind, before heading off to order Scourge and Sky-Bite to work.

  
  


Far across the universe, in the region known as the Hub, the Liege chuckled as well. "Galvatron is foolish and power-hungry. Reminds me of myself in my first eon. It's a shame he's being played like a fiddle." The Liege folded his clawed hands under his chin, and grinned. "You nearly got me, Primus Convoy, but filling the ground with troops took something out of you. Even your power, as it turned out, has limits, and I will take great pleasure in draining off what little destroying Galvatron's merry marauding minions leaves within your shell." The Liege laughed, and the multiverse trembled.

  
  


******************

  
  


Galvatron was not the only one contacting distant worlds at that moment, though he was having better luck than the Autobots were. 

  
  


"How much longer will it take?" Tremor asked, pacing back and forth in the Autobot base. Optimus Prime stood calmly against one side, while TAI communed electronically with the Autobot FTL radio gear.

  
  


"Just a moment longer," TAI assured the Maximal, though not angrily. She found the Maximal's devotion to duty and clarity of purpose refreshing. "It's difficult trying to get through the transwarp nexus right now. The energy level's higher than normal, and we're having trouble getting a clear signal." Several lights on the panel switched green, and TAI said in a surprised tone, "That's funny. Things just cleared up. All right, we're connected to Cybertron's network." 

Tremor nodded his thanks and walked over to the panel, quickly tapping in an address. After a moment, the red-armored face of an Autobot with blue optics and a sardonic expression appeared on screen. Around the head was a cooling grill, a slightly odd feature that indicated this robot often risked over-heating. He looked a bit battered though, several dings and burns visible in his armor.

  
  


"Boss!" exclaimed the robot happily, "It's great to see you're all right. The big M said he could still feel you, but we were afraid you had opened the transwarp gate and stayed behind to buy us time. It kept Arcee from being worried, at least." 

  
  


"Six-gun, there really wasn't anything in the area to rear-guard against by that point, and tell Arcee I'll be home soon," Tremor ordered his comrade. Six-gun nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I need a few things from you. The first thing is a status report, but I also need someone to analyze this data I'm uploading, and if the results come back positive, I need you to see about getting some more forces from the Elders."

  
  


"Right, boss," Six-gun said. "Big guy's power cells were practically near zero by the time we got here. He barely had enough power to maintain consciousness. We've got the solar panels extended, and we're getting energon pumped in, so we're up to forty percent power already. Us little guys are back on our feet, thanks to the CR chambers here, and already back on perimeter defense duty." Six-gun made a face.

  
  


"No rest for the wicked, Six-gun. And the righteous don't need it," Tremor reminded his friend.

  
  


"Mm-hmm. I'm guessing the reason you weren't able to contact us earlier was that you were conked out in a recharge cycle," stated Six-gun, before laughing at Tremor's embarrassed expression and continuing, "Anyway, the big guy's power's okay again, but it's going to be awhile before he's on his feet. Or has feet, for that matter, since he's got twelve major impact wounds, and a couple hundred stress fractures. We've got most of the major blast damage cleaned up, but we don't know if we've got all the stress fractures located yet. Mechanics said no transforming and lay off on the weapons fire. And they prescribed a few weeks of auto-repair cycle." 

  
  


Six-gun brightened after letting Tremor digest the grim news for a second, "The good news is that your stuff was small, and they could swap out a lot of components. The trailer needs a day or two, but you can call the main cab if you need it." Tremor sighed in relief.

"That's good to hear. I'm probably going to need Primus Convoy for this, but let's leave it on Cybertron until I need it. You'll need the extra firepower if someone decides you're too good a target to pass," declared Tremor.

  
  


Six-gun looked relieved, "Thanks boss. I'll get the big guy started on the data analysis." Tremor waved as the connection closed.

  
  


The Maximal then turned away from the console and bowed again. "I thank you for your hospitality, Optimus, but I must impinge some more. If possible, I'd like to enter your chain of command for a few days," Optimus started to say something, but Tremor held up a hand, "Please let me finish." Optimus subsided for a moment, and the Maximal continued, "I do not wish to unduly alarm you, but I believe that events are developing in a way your troops do not have the knowledge to handle. I have experience with the power source your enemy used in the recent battle, and I would be honored if you allowed me to share that knowledge." 

  
  


Optimus responded immediately, "Of course we'd be glad to welcome you into our ranks. Earth will be that much safer with another defender." Tremor nodded gratefully in response. Optimus started to walk deeper into the base, "Now, if you'll be staying with us, let me introduce you to the rest of my troops." Tremor followed as Optimus headed towards the base's barracks. 

  
  


***************

  
  


Almost two days passed without incident for the Autobot forces. The reprieve was welcome, allowing them to complete repairs and step up the search for Fortress Maximus as long as Galvatron wasn't up to anything. Tremor, his form not adapted for time on Earth, spent his days assisting TAI with base maintenance and recovering his strength.

  
  


Unfortunately, all such reprieves eventually come to an end. The return of war, this time, began when one of TAI's tapped government offices reported seismic activity occurring in Siberia. 

  
  


"Optimus, come in!" TAI shouted into the radio, "I'm picking up a definite movement trail this time. Fort Max must have looped his way through the core for some reason, and he's headed towards Siberia." TAI paused for a moment, "Energy scan complete. Doesn't look like any traps, just Galvatron and his forces."

Optimus responded shortly, "Call the Autobots together and have them meet me at the space bridge, but contact Koji as well. There won't be many humans there, and without any humans to guard, Fort Max will be more vulnerable to mental attack. We'll need Koji to ensure that Galvatron can't reprogram him." 

  
  


"Will do, Optimus!" Tai responded in a chipper tone. After closing the channel, she rushed to the barracks corridor, filled with single recharging berths. Being built underground and having to house few troops meant excellent amenities, even for the rooms for grunts like the one the Maximal had borrowed. "Tremor, wake up!" 

  
  


A few moments passed before the door swung open and Tremor's bleary beast-form visage stood facing the hologram. "What's wrong TAI, are we under attack?" he said sleepily. Despite a few days time, and using the beast-form's auto-repair abilities, his massive power banks were still on the road to recovery.

"Not yet, but there's going to be a battle shortly," TAI stated. Tremor nodded determinedly and shook himself to try and force himself awake. The two trotted down the corridor, back to the control room, to get to the space bridge access point, when TAI suddenly stiffened. At the same time, the control panel beeped. "Cybertron's calling," she said slowly, "It's heavily encrypted. It's going to take cycles for me to decrypt." Her holographic avatar started to move jerkily, as processing power was eaten up to run the code-breaking utilities.

"A message from Cybertron's important," noted Tremor, "But not important enough you have to off-line yourself! My mission isn't important enough to stop you from the sensor watch the Autobots need!"

  
  


TAI seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open as she said sleepily, "It's never that simple. This was flagged priority-one, and I'm hard-wired to deal with these as soon as feasible, even if it means taking my personality program off-line." TAI struggled forward. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but I need you to stay here and guard the base! Someone will need to run the space bridge if the Autobots get into trouble!" 

  
  


Tremor winced, before nodding, "I hate to duck out on a fight, but all right TAI, I promise not to leave until you come back on-line." TAI sighed in relief and blinked out. Tremor quickly contacted Optimus. He would be late to the battle. 

  
  


********

  
  


Deep in the barren plains of Asia, evil was lurking. A massive plume of dust was rising from an anonymous spot on the grass-spotted land, and Cerebros, Scourge, and Galvatron were keeping an eye on it. Ruination and the Predacons were further back, keeping a perimeter against the inevitable Autobot attack. Galvatron, in dragon mode, was perched on a mound of black energon cubes.

  
  


"Scourge, if you try anything funny this time," warned Galvatron, "I will take great pleasure in ripping the Spark from your traitorous shell." 

  
  


Scourge started to smoothly reply, but then paused, before dropping his head to the ground. "My only thoughts are to have Fortress Maximus placed under your power, my liege," Scourge groveled.

  
  


"Then I am pleased to see that my latest reprogramming worked so well," Galvatron said, before ordering, "Cererbros, summon Fortress Maximus and combine!" 

  
  


Meanwhile, the Predacons scattered backwards as a glowing circle opened up in the ground, and a fleet of automobiles raced out of it. "Autobots, transform!" commanded Optimus, before letting Koji out of his cab on the edge of the battlefield.. After their near-defeat, Optimus had called everyone for this mission, and they were itching for some payback. Rail Racer and Landfill quickly formed and the Autobot brothers supercharged. Optimus prepared to don his battle armor, when another engine sound was heard.

  
  


Ultra Magnus pulled up to the battlefield and transformed, the injuries from the previous battle returned. He pointed his thumb jauntily at the plume of dust rising several hundred meters away. "Taking on a big one, huh?" he asked, "Like some help?" Prime nodded and the two grabbed hands, combining into their Omega Prime form. Optimus's trailer, with little else to do, shifted to its repair bay mode to deal with the inevitable causalities.

  
  


"Koji," stated the mighty Autobot, "Stay here by Transrepair. It will signal if we need you." The young boy nodded as the Autobot force started forward, weapons ready. 

  
  


"Attack, you fools!" ordered Sky-Bite. The Predacons were gathered lying behind a small hill, watching the Autobot army. 

  
  


Slapper shook his head, and said, "Sorry, Sky-Bite, but my dental plan only covers so many Autobot-induced manglings a week. We're going to go out there and get creamed." 

  
  


Sky-Bite pointed to the north, where Ruination was tromping towards the Autobot force as fast as his composite body could carry him. "The Decepticons are attacking! Do you want to be shown up again?"

  
  


Slapper shrugged, "Sky-Bite, you know as well as I do that between their flashy power-up sequences and Omega Prime, the Autobots can eat him for lunch."

  
  


Darkscream agreed, "If we stay back here, and wait for them to get a little closer, we can probably knock out a few of them before we're pounded so fine they'll need magnets to collect our remains. Besides, I don't see you out there." Sky-Bite spluttered incoherently, before the Predacons dissolved into a raging argument. 

  
  


Galvatron, with his sensitive vision, noticed the Predacons hesitation, but was not worried. "Luckily I brought a little extra courage for my warriors." Galvatron struck a claw down directly into the pile of cubes, spearing several, and causing dark energy to flow over the Predacons and Ruination. As the energy touched them, they all turned a dark purple, and sped up.

  
  


Sky-Bite's voice, normally a bit metallic, now sounded quite feral. "My, I feel good. Power overwhelms/Destruction of everything/a feeding frenzy." Sky-Bite chorted evilly, and the Predacons joined in. Overwhelmed by energies of chaos and evil, the Predacons swarmed down, all semblance of their former minds now gone, thinking only of destruction.

  
  


Initially seeing only the Predacons, the Autobot brothers headed to deal with the Predacons, while Rail Racer and the Build Team prepared to deal with Ruination. However, the Autobots expectations of easy victory vanished when their initial round of fire simply bounced off their opponents. 

  
  


"Since when do the bad guys get upgrades?" Side-burn complained, ducking as a super-powered laser blast ripped a fifty meter furrow into the ground behind him.

"I guess since right now, Side-burn," stated X-Brawn calmly, "But I bet I know the varmint behind it! Prime, you think you can hit Galvatron from here?"

  
  


"I'm way ahead of you, X-brawn!" Omega stated as he skidded to a halt. Omega Prime's weapons platform dropped down on his shoulders. "Omega Gatling!" he ordered, unleashing a barrage of high-energy firepower.

  
  


"Ack!" Galvatron shouted. He had been watching the opening rounds of firepower, but due to his carrying Cerebros, he was unable to get out of the attack's line completely, his right wing behind blackened as the armor absorbed Omega's fury. 

  
  


The cubes of energon he was sitting on, however, had no ability to dodge. The cubes were relatively fragile, and, unless care was taken, tended to explode when ruptured. Galvatron could normally channel the energy as a matter of course, but he was focused on his newly injured wing. Just as he touched ground next to the cubes, the ruptured cube spread its energy like a dark fog over the pile. Scourge began to shout a warning as black lightning crackled, but even as his vocalizer was forming the words, the cubes exploded.

  
  


Despite being a half-kilometer away, the Autobots were forced to cover their optics as an acre of topsoil was converted into plasma. The evil Transformers, backs to the explosion, didn't notice until the shockwave hit, knocking everyone down and skidding across the ground. Koji, upon seeing the blast, had wisely ducked behind Transrepair and curled into a ball. The repair-base meanwhile deployed augers on detecting the energy build-up and anchored itself into the ground, as Koji would have become a red paste if Optimus's trailer had been knocked backwards. 

  
  


The Autobots shook themselves and looked at ground zero for the explosion. The plume had stopped, as evidently Maximus had evidently stopped moving due to some command. Or, possibly, judging by the fact a sheet of glass rested where there had been ordinary ground, it was possible Cerebros had been vaporized, destroying Maximus's command center. 

  
  


"Fortress Maximus," Omega stated sadly as he began to speak. Thinking perhaps the mighty Autobot's brain had been destroyed. Before getting a chance to check the hypothesis, the fused Autobot was knocked back by an energy blast. The super-charged minions of Galavatron had recovered faster, and were more than willing to continue this battle despite the apparent destruction of their leader. 

  
  


Omega got to his feet and summoned his weapons platform again, but Sky-Bite, moving with quickness far beyond that normally capable of his servos, grabbed onto Omega and lifted him into the air by his throat, while twisting slightly to let loose a Tsunami Blast, though one modified to shoot in an arc rather than a cone. The Spychangers were knocked back, just as they were getting to their feet. 

  
  


Meanwhile, Slapper, Darkscream, and Gas Skunk had the Autobot brothers well in hand. Though their raw fury would be their undoing against the Matrix-charged Autobot brothers teamwork and coordination, the Autobots were still partially blinded by the explosion, and in their stunned state, were unable to mount a defense as the Predacons tore at their armor. 

  
  


Two-Line, Skid-Z, as well as the two Autobot combiners faced off against Ruination. The combiners, having better self-repair systems than any one robot could manage, were able to see more or less clearly again, but Tow-Line and Skid-Z were quickly recovering. Rail Racer and Landfill raised their weapons to fire. As the triggers were pressed, Ruination's arms shot up with supernatural quickness. The combiner's hands glowed black, before the darkness flowed into a disk-shaped shield before him. As the Autobot firepower hit the shield, it merely reflected backwards, exploding against the Autobots and knocking them down. 

  
  


As the combiners began to struggle to their feet, Ruination loped across the field at a far faster pace than he had ever managed, hauling a combiner into the air with each hand. Landfill began to shift to a different mode in the hopes of catching the combiner off guard, but Ruination didn't give him time to finish. Laughing sadistically, the monster threw the two combiners. With impressive accuracy, Rail Racer and Landfill landed on Tow-Line and Skid-Z respectfully, knocking the two smaller Autobots out of the fight. Roaring, Ruination charged forward to finish the job. 

  
  


***********

  
  


Galvatron awoke, and screamed as his body's condition made itself known when he tried to stand. Forcing down the pain, the Decepticon struggled to his feet, though only succeeding on the third attempt. Satisfied he was basically operational, he began to make a visual survey of the damage. 

  
  


His wings had several holes blown straight through, evidently from shrapnel, and the Decepticon doubted he would be able to transform or fly for a while. Galvatron continued looking himself over, and paused in confusion when he realized he was seeing only in one direction. Galvatron tried looking at himself, and found his other head was apparently still unconscious. Mentally shrugging, Galvatron continued the inventory. His weapons were off-line, and his mobility was hurt on the ground as well. Still, he was lucky. Galvatron doubted he would be alive if he had still been Megatron.

  
  


A soft buzz sounded below him, and Galvatron painfully limped out of the way. Cerebros stood up, though a bit slower than usual for the near-drone. His paint was heavily scratched on his front, but other than that, he had made it through basically intact, shielded by Galvatron's body. The mighty dragon craned his head to look behind Cerebros, and winced. A large furrow had been dug into the dirt by their crash, and they were at least a solid kilometer away from where they had been standing. Galvatron looked over, and noticed weapon fire, as well as the massive shape of Ruination in the distance. Galvatron nodded. He needed to get over there and ensure the Autobot's destruction, but it would be difficult, as he was unused to a non-stereo view in this form. 

  
  


Galvatron rapped his comatose head with a claw. "Wake up, you idiot!" the Decepticon barked to himself. After a few more taps, the second head shook itself and straightened up, looking a bit apologetic. "None of that now. Cerebros, follow us." Galvatron's second head, now more fully awake, corrected himself, "Me. Follow me. There's work to do." 

  
  


************

  
  


Termor paced back and forth impatiently. A small progress bar had almost filled in the corner of one of the Autobot's monitors, but as Tremor watched the Autobot's attempts to win merely dissolved into a stalemate with the enemy forces, the decryption effort seemed to have slowed to a halt. He was almost certain what was on that message, and what results awaited. The Maximo's influence was indeed here, and Tremor would take great joy in purging that evil from this world. Unfortunately for the Autobots, the Maximal could not simply walk away from his promise. In a race comprised of warriors, it was the little things that differentiated the two sides.

  
  


After a small eternity of anguish, the bar blinked out, and TAI's avatar reformed from her hoverdisc projector. "Message decoded!" the program said cheerily, and started to run the message. Her expression darkened as her subsystems brought her up-to-date on what she had missed. Tremor, however, was ignoring her, as the message contained information far more vital than he had thought.

  
  


"Hey boss," Six-gun said, flippancy gone from his tone of voice, "Big guy ran the Autobots' data through his data banks, but we had to make a call to the Cybertronian Archives before we could make even a tentative match. We would have gotten back sooner, but this stuff's so hot we had to get it to the Elders, and it took a while to finagle a session."

  
  


A cannon barrel pushed its way into view and turned to the screen. "We owe the Elders a new door, and we owe some guards some energon credits for putting them into the repair bay," rumbled the cannon barrel. 

  
  


Six-gun irritably pushed the cannon back out of view. "Quiet Slammer," he ordered, "This is serious." Six-gun hung his head in shame, admitting, "They were moving a little slow, so we... greased the wheels so to speak. We probably owe them a new floor as well." Tremor tapped his foot irritably and seethed. Unfortunately, this was prerecorded, and he couldn't speed up his subordinates report.

  
  


"Sorry sir, it's just stress," said Six-gun sadly, "Anyway, the Elders took a look in the secret data vaults to confirm it. That energon signature is definitely from one of the Liege's power booster cubes. Except that these are better, and don't look like they burn out some poor scraplet's circuits in a few cycles, boss.. Even the information in the vaults was second-hand heresy, but it looks like the energon that the bad guys are using came straight from the Liege's personnel stockpile." 

  
  


Six-gun looked even more glum as he continued to speak, "Sorry to say, but there's more bad news, boss. Our, um, enthusiasm in delivering the news led to Cybertron being placed on alert. Traffic Control here on Cybertron started to really watch the boards, and noticed echoes of something massive moving in the transwarp system. It was well-shielded, but it was so big the ripples through space-time were too powerful to dampen entirely. They couldn't get enough information to establish a good origin point, but the big guy crunched some numbers, and got a ninety percent probability that the Liege himself is headed to Earth, and he'll be there in a local week or so." 

  
  


Tremor groaned. He had come to greatly like the Earth-based Autobots, but he doubted that they could win even if they had Fortress Maximus against the coming attack. 

  
  


Six-gun interrupted Tremor's descent into angst, "We do have some good news. The Council made our repairs top priority, boss! Instead of just being given some parking space once the emergency was dealt with, we've got a top-flight team of mechanics working on the microfractures, and even sticking in some new options. It'll be a couple kilocycles before we're ready to go, but we got your armor pushed to the front of the queue. If we programmed it right, it'll pop up in a reentry pod in orbit, before coming down to land in your initial area, boss." Six-gun saluted, before the screen winked out.

  
  


Tremor brightened. His Ultra Pretender shell would greatly boost his ability to control the powers present in the Omnimatrix. "All right, TAI, where's the best place I could enter to give the good guys a boost?" he asked, cracking his knuckle joints.

"Don't you want to pick up your equipment?" TAI asked, "The Autobots' position is stable. They can hold out for a cycle or two easily if this equipment will make such a difference."

  
  


Tremor shook his head, "I can control it via radio, and if you'll set up a space bridge connection from that landing site to somewhere close to the battlefield, I can program it to home in on me." 

  
  


TAI nodded, and quickly hacked into satellites over the field. Complex algorithms clarified data from Terran spy and weather satellites, and constructed a map in seconds that would have taken a day for human intelligence organizations to compile. TAI blinked a few times in shock, "Very faint energy signature from Fortress Maximus. I don't detect Scourge anywhere. Decepticons and Predacon signatures detected, but there's something overlaid. And there's Galvatron. Odd, he's usually shielded from our scans. Let me see if I can get any more information from him." 

  
  


"TAI," said Tremor in warning, "I'm not going to go and just take out a nearly helpless opponent. We could imprison him later, perhaps, when we have time, but the other ones are far more dangerous. That energy signatures comes from energon tainted by pure evil Spark energy. It could kill them!"

  
  


TAI continued her work. "He's got Cerebros with him. If you snatch him away, it'll make our victory easier. Fortress Maximus was intended to assist the humans and protect this world." 

  
  


Tremor nodded, "All right. Open the space bridge as close as you can to his location, and I'll pick him up. Anywhere I can drop him safely?"

  
  


TAI pointed to a location on the map. Tremor nodded his thanks and ran down the corridor towards the space bridge.

  
  


***********

  
  


Galvatron limped forward resolutely. His troops were winning, slightly, and his presence would tip the odds in their favor. And, if Cerebros managed to regain contact with Fortress Maximus, the Autobots would surely perish. Galvatron felt elated enough to cackle, but ended up coughing a small cloud of smoke up instead. "Curses," he rasped, "But soon, Autobots, you will know the cold embrace of death!" 

  
  


Cerbros, silent until now, suddenly spoke up. "Communications with Fortress Maximus reestablished. Restoring command link." 

  
  


"Excellent, my fine brainwashed friend," Galvatron said, very pleased. "Summon Maximus to the surface as soon as possible. Now, if we're lucky enough to run into that idiot Scourge, we'll be able to finally finish off the Autobots." Even a small breeze had started, propelling him forward.

  
  


"Scourge's signal detected," stated Cerebros in response.

  
  


"Better and better!" said Galvatron happily, "Where is he, anyway? In trouble, I suppose?" Cerebros looked at Galvatron's tattered body, but, due to the programming blocks placed by Galvatron, could only comment with something constructive to the Decepticon's goals. 

  
  


Before Cerebros could reveal Scourge's location, a warning shot exploded next to one of Galvatron's feet. Galvatron wheeled around, and hissed as he put too much stress on his damaged legs. "Hi," Tremor said, standing in front of the space-bridge, the opening of which had caused the breeze Galvatron had felt. The Maximal's weapon was aimed squarely for the Spark crystal in Galvatron's center torso. A flash of gold suddenly flowed out from the warrior to wash over Cerebros, causing the robot to blink in confusion. Tremor shook himself, seeming temporarily drained, but quickly refocused.

  
  


"Let's make this quick," he said, "Right now I've got more firepower than you, and Cerebros is currently fighting off your reprogramming thanks to me boosting his Spark energy. If you peacefully hand him over to me, you won't get hurt. If you resist, Cerebros is probably going to ask Fortress Maximus to step on you very shortly." 

  
  


Galvatron, always willing to give away a long-term advantage in exchange for short-term gain, stepped away from Cerebros. Tremor nodded his thanks, and then transformed into his jet mode. "Nice doing business with you," the Maximal said cheerfully, "Cerebros, hang on tight, and we'll get you back over to the Autobots." Cerebros, still confused, looked to Galavtron, who irritably nodded, and the ancient Autobot immediately complied with Tremor's instructions. Afterburners igniting, Tremor raced into the sky towards the embattled Autobots. Galvatron sighed, and started the long walk home.

  
  


**********

  
  


The Autobots had managed to regroup, and were holding in a tight semicircle in front of Transrepair. The Spychangers were currently hooked up to the repair base, getting a quick recharge while the other Autobots covered them. Now facing the organized troops, the Predacons and Ruination's early advantage had largely disappeared. Though they were effectively equal to the Autobot forces in firepower and armor, they didn't attempt any sort of coordination, and merely rushed at the Autobots whenever they were able to. 

  
  


The Autobots, however, could simply concentrate their firepower, and disable each attack quickly. Their foes refused to retreat, and the damage inflicted by the Autobots healed itself before their eyes quickly each time, as the enemy forces rose again and again despite the punishment they took. The Autobot's energy and ammunition was quickly running out, and their ability to defend themselves would go down to practically nil once that happened. The tears in the Autobot brothers' armor was a silent preview of what the corrupted Transformers were capable of in melee range.

  
  


Luckily, fresh forces had arrived. Tremor began a strafing run, keeping the enemy troops occupied for a moment as he landed. Cerebros, looking winded, staggered over to Transrepair. He still could not manage a secure link to Fortress Maximus, and with his Spark still fighting Galvatron's blocks, his programming was so distorted he was beginning to have trouble seeing straight. 

  
  


Tremor transformed and pulled out his heavy rifle, but his finger hesitated over the trigger. The energies fueling Galvatron's troops to beyond their limits was slowly exhausting itself. He could probably destroy them, but they had been ill-used in this case. Tremor concentrated, once again summoning a golden glow, and shooting it at the forces opposing the Autobots. Coronas of gold light surrounded them, and then they sighed blissfully as purple wisps of energy began to emerge from their bodies, quickly being neutralized by the power of Tremor's Omnimatrix. The Predacons collapsed, Ruination breaking apart into his components before doing the same. Tremor sat down as well, much of his energy used up in purification. The Predacons and Decepticons, however, had gone back to their normal coloration and attitudes.

  
  


Slapper was the first of the Predacons to move, holding his hand to his head and moaning, "Where are we? Does anyone have an aspirin?" 

  
  


Sky-Bite shook himself and crawled to his feet. "There's no time for that now!" Sky-Bite pointed to the battered Autobots. "The Autobots have been heavily weakened, we can destroy them!" 

  
  


Slapper looked at the Autobots, bowed but unbroken, and covering them with weapons while they bickered. "Um, how exactly? We ask them nicely to shoot themselves." Slapper asked skeptically. They were quite low on energy, with their circuits stressed by the power overload practically to the point of no return. It was a wonder they could move.

  
  


Sky-Bite, having had a chance now to survey the battlefield, asked, "Do you think that would work?" The Predacon trio sighed and shook their heads. Sky-Bite sighed, and hung his head down as he predicted, "Galvatron isn't going to be happy with this. Predacons, retreat!" the shark ordered. The four transformed and started to run, hop, or fly away. Mega-Octane had come to the same conclusion, and the five shifted painfully to their vehicular modes and fled as well.

  
  


"Nicely done, Tremor!" Side-burn congratulated the still-kneeling Maximal. "Think you could summon up another of those rays to deal with this nasty burr in my left rotator?" Tremor looked up in sheer exhaustion. "Maybe later," the Autobot mumbled, looking around. "Oh, I'll just go and check on Koji, then!" Side-burn said, walking off towards where Optimus's repair base still stood. After standing there for a moment, the Autobot called back, "Um, Fort Max is the only Autobot Cerebros controls, right?"

  
  


"That's right," Prowl confirmed. After a moment's pause, "Exactly why are you asking that now?" he asked.

  
  


Koji replied, "The cab for a semi just popped out the space bridge a few seconds ago when Cerebros was looking especially bad, and it's got an Autobot symbol on the front of it." 

  
  


Tremor rose to his feet unsteadily, "That's probably mine," he said weakly. He walked over and joined Side-burn and Koji in studying the cab. It was appropriately-sized for being part of an eighteen wheeler, primarily red, with a big Autobot symbol on the radiator grill. However, a turret rested on the hood, as well as heavy rail-guns by each door. Tremor closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. The cab honked merrily and opened and closed its doors. Tremor smiled, "So, the Pretender shell came through intact."

  
  


Koji asked, "What is it? Armor like Optimus's?" 

  
  


"Basically," Tremor said, "Except its effectively another body I can use when necessary. But when merged, my powers grow greatly."

  
  


"That must be nice," Koji commented, "I bet you wouldn't have to sleep like poor Cerebros there." The Autobots, and Maximal warrior, turned to look. Cerebros was lying next to Transrepair, eyes closed, but judging by his facial expression, it didn't look like he was having a pleasant stasis. 

  
  


Tremor muttered, "That's odd, he should have finished clearing Galvatorn's programs from his circuits by now." Tremor bent down next to the Autobot, "I may have to use the armor. I wanted to keep it in reserve, but Galvatron may have been more clever than I thought."

  
  


"If it's so useful, why not use it now?" Koji asked.

  
  


"That's a reasonable question," Tremor admitted, "However, I'm trying to keep it in reserve. We'll need the surprise Autobots, for our forces on Cybertron have informed me that-"

  
  


"Unable to connect!" yelled Cerebros, eyes awake. With power born of terror, Tremor was thrown out of the way as Cerebros started running towards the plain where Fortress Maximus had been rising earlier.. 

  
  


"What crawled up his tailpipe?" X-Brawn asked in confusion.

  
  


Prowl transformed and set off after him. "I'm not sure," Prowl stated in determination, "But that Autobot's in definite distress, and I have to lend aid." Prowl rolled out, X-brawn shook his head and followed. The other Autobots followed as well, Tremor setting Koji in the cab's passenger compartment first as the armor followed him like an eager turbofox pup.

  
  


************

  
  


Cerebros stood on the edge of a spot of earth that had been greatly disturbed, looking as if it had been plowed multiple times in quick succession. Maximus's goal was to protect the planet, but unfortunately such power as his couldn't help but damage the planet when he moved. The control robot stared frantically at the dirt patch, which was silent again, as the Autobots made their way to stand near him.

  
  


The group was silent for a moment, wondering if something had destroyed the mighty guardian. Then, the dirt suddenly started to shift as something moved underneath. Side Burn patted Cerebros on the back, saying encouragingly, "There you go! Maximus is fine!"

  
  


"Control link not established,"Cerebros replied flatly.

  
  


"Could something mimic your command signal, Cerebros?" Tremor asked. The Autobots shifted uneasily, having not thought of that. Tremor, feeling a bit uneasy, signaled Koji to leave the cab, and the boy quickly complied. 

  
  


The dirt started to move faster, lighter particles being kicked into the air, as a faint rumbling could be hear. To human sit would probably still be too low to register, but the Autobots heard it fine, and they started to take several cautious steps backwards.

  
  


It was actually several more minutes before Maximus emerged. By that time, the Autobots had retreated back several hundred feet, due to the massive amounts of dust, and the noise was like a rocket taking off. Finally, the mighty armored form of Fortress Maximus, in travel mode appeared. As the dirt fell off the huge Transformer's hull, Cerebros sighed in relief.

  
  


"Communication reestablished. Transforming," he stated, folding up into a head. At the same time, Maximus formed into the body, before the two linked up into robot mode. The mighty defender stood there, and after a moment, the Autobots cheered, having reclaimed the powerful fighting force. 

  
  


"That was unexpectedly non-dramatic," Omega Prime commented dryly. 

  
  


Fortress Maximus suddenly chuckled evilly. From its chest control compartment, black veins suddenly started to sprout. "That would be Optimus talking, foolish as always," said Maximus in a sinister voice. 

  
  


"Scourge?" X-Brawn said incredulously. 

  
  


"Correct, Autobot," said Maximus, as darkness spread across his frame. "I am myself again. I thought I was off-line when I saw that flash from the energon, but something far greater has happened. I awoke to find myself one with Fort Max, with sufficient power to override the primary programs. Gah!" Scourge suddenly shouted, exposition cut off as energy fire suddenly burst against the upper torso, sending the Transformer back a step.

  
  


"Missed," said Tremor, sounding annoyed. After a second, fire launched from behind the Autobots, as Tremor's truck cab opened up with its mounted guns. He pointed up at Maximus, and said, "We need to try and take him out now. He obviously doesn't have full control over Maximus's systems, or he would have blown us up immediately." The Autobots nodded, launching firepower skyward, but as the veins continued to grow, Maximus merely laughed.

  
  


"Fools, your energy is practically depleted. While mine is practically infinite!" Scourge/Max declared. The area echoed with the sound of massive bolts being pulled back as guns began to extend from Maximus's legs, chest, and arms. The barrels revealed were large enough to allow the Spychangers to hold practices inside them. The Autobots continued fire had no effect as the barrels locked into position with echoing finality. Dark veins snaked into the barrels, which hummed with Armageddon temporarily withheld. 

  
  


Tremor muttered, "He's sure to detect this, but I need to do this now, he's got too much control!" Suddenly, the amount of fire lessened as the truck stopped firing. A few Autobots stopped to look in surprise as its wheels suddenly spun into life, the truck weaving through the Transformers to make it to Tremor, stopping with almost an eager look. 

  
  


"All right," Tremor said with growing determination. "Let's do it. Transform and prepare to combine!" The cab honked enthusiastically for a moment. Jets suddenly fired from the front of the cab as it lifted into the air. The connecting arm behind it folded down into blue legs, and the headlight section and doors spread out to form arms and shoulders. A head sprung out, resembling Prime's facemask, but with pointed antenna on the side, as well as a gold v-crest on the forehead. The turret from the hood split apart into twin shoulder mounted missile launchers, while the mighty rail guns dropped into the hands of the transformed cab. Then, to the surprise of the Autobots, it split in half down the middle, cracking into a back and forward section.. 

  
  


Tremor shoved through the Autobots who had suddenly gathered to gawk. "Out of the way please," he said politely, "That big monster's about to incinerate us all with a small star's worth of energy." Tremor stood in between the two shell halves, and closed his eyes. Golden light poured out of him, filling the space in between the armor's hands. The armor's new optics glowed blue, and suddenly the armor sealed itself around Tremor, leaving no apparent seal. Indeed, for this was a new robot created of the life-force within, and the armor without.

  
  


The robot rocketed to life on thrusters mounted on its back, hovering over the Autobots. A powerful golden energy shell extended out from the center of it. It was barely in place before a massive blast of blue and black mixed energy struck it. The barrier bent in, but was unbroken. When the assault stopped, not even a blade of grass was disturbed when the barrier cut away, revealing the surprised Autobots beneath. 

  
  


"I am Primus Convoy," stated the robot fiercely. "I am that which lies at the core of every Autobot. Release Maximus now, Scourge, or face the consequences!" A simultaneous click from each rail gun, followed by the hum of capacitors charging, accented the threat. 

  
  


"And give this up?" Scourge said incredulously, "You really think I'll stop now that I have the strongest power on the planet?" 

  
  


"Scourge, you're a fool! That's not antimatter energon you're using. The Liege tapped darkness itself! It burns out all it touches1" Prmius Convoy declared. 

  
  


"So?" asked Scourge, confused and under the dark power's influence. 

  
  


Convoy shook his head, "Then it's time to remove that power! Cyclone missiles!" Primus declared, opening up with his arsenal. Rockets launched from Primus's shoulder turrets, exploding into clouds of chaff and debris in front of the mighty Autobot's face, blinding Maximus's target sensors. "Hyper-thunder cannon!" Carefully aiming, the bearer of the Omnimatrix released a salvo of shots from his rail guns. The near-cannon's used space-drive technology to accelerate the projectiles. By the time they left the barrel, they were already traveling faster than Mach 3. Lacking time to be slowed down to any degree, they impacted against Maximus at almost Mach 10, and the shells would have done plenty of damage, weighing a quarter ton each, at that velocity, equivalent to some of the best energy weapons. The explosives secreted within the shells made the blast several times more effective than even the legendary Megatron's fusion cannon. 

  
  


Scourge roared as massive holes were open in his armor, black ichor dripping from the veins of darkness across Maximus. Sparks trailed from deep within each wound, Primus's firepower sufficient to pierce even the fortress's armor. "Die!" he commanded, but nothing happened. "What, how?" he roared. 

  
  


"Take a good look at yourself, Scourge," Primus Convoy declared, "I shot through the primary and auxiliary power feeds to each of Maximus's weapons, as well as your tendrils. He will heal," Primus declared, golden energy gathering in his fists, "However, considering Maximus's size, I wanted to ensure you weren't tempted to shoot any Autobots while I made sure you corrupted his presence no longer." Primus unleashed the energy, beams shooting from his fists to impact against Maximus's feet.

  
  


Though the energy seemed to cause no damage, Scourge roared in pain. The veins across the battle station's hull started to retract as Primus directed the beam up the limbs. The damage seemed to be intensifying as the veins retracted faster and faster, requiring less energy to destroy. Primus skipped the chest, concentrating on Cerebros for several moments. As the energy beams gradually danced closer to Maximus's chest, the veins suddenly disappeared.

  
  


"All right, I surrender!" Maximus announced, and a beam of energy shot from the 'heart' region on Maximus, Scourge reforming from within Maximus's control program. He knelt down, carefully laying down the Sword of Fury at his feet before standing. "I dare not face such power, and trust you to be honorable." 

  
  


"Of course, I'm sure Optimus will treat you with great respect," Primus said, and Omega nodded in response. The Optimus section was elated to have a chance to reclaim Scourge from darkness. "That said," Primus noted, "We obviously can't have you simply running around." Gold energy pulsed as Primus held out a hand, quickly wrapping Scourge in bonds of energy. The Autobots cheered as the Spychangers flanked Scourge, putting additional binders on him. 

  
  


"Glad to see that's taken care of," Primus said, brushing his hands, before floating higher in the air, up to Maximus's eye level. "How are you doing there? Want a boost?"

  
  


Maximus shook his head, looking pensive, "My energy level is drained from contact with the energy of the black hole," Primus looked surprised, but Maximus merely nodded, "Yes, you and I were spawned from similar situations." Maximus looked to the sky and warned, "I can sense his approach, but the Liege cannot go any faster, but you must finish recovering your energy. I will do the same," Maximus said, splitting up into Cerebros and his base mode. The base sank down, while Cerebros stood by the Autobots.

  
  


Primus settled to ground level. "I doubt there is much more to do today. But we have much to discuss, my new friends," declared Primus Convoy. The Autobots nodded, the combiners breaking apart, before they transformed to vehicular modes. Koji quickly got into Optimus. Primus Convoy flew overhead, Cerebros on his back, as the group returned to their secret headquarters. 

  
  


*************

  
  


The mood in Autobot headquarters was split last night. The Spychangers, Autobot brothers, Team Bullet Train, and other assorted hanger-ons had a massive and enthusiastic party, with a bewildered Cerebros and exasperated TAI looking on. Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Primus Convoy, on the other hand, merely looked on the festivities as they were having a grim meeting.

  
  


"I think you're going to need to see about Side Burn, bro. He's guzzled half the energon out there, and... I think he's challenging Rail Racer to a duel." Magnus said with a smile. Well, mainly grim. Magnus had stopped by the base, for once, for repairs. And free food.

  
  


"Frankly, I just hope my soldiers still have confidence after we tell them that another enemy is coming to Earth," Optimus said grimly.

  
  


Primus Convoy shook his head, "I wouldn't worry, Optimus, your troops are brave and capable. The Liege himself is incredibly strong, an ancient Transformer who's rebuilt himself to be the size of a city. But, on an individual basis, much are more powerful than the average trooper under the Liege's command. . He's apparently been a warlord in the core region for quite some time, and some records indicate he was cut off in that area by a previous generation of Autobots. They did something that destroyed the transwarp nexus in that area, as well as disrupting normal FTL. He was forgotten by Cybertron, but he spent the time building up his numbers, and recently started threatening the galaxy again."

  
  


"Luckily," Convoy said, "We managed to repulse his initial attempt, despite him being a complete unknown at the time." To their questioning stares, he shrugged, "Mad Decepticon warlords don't suffer scientist types well, and his forces were seriously behind modern weapon and defense innovations. He sacrificed thousands of his troops to buy time finding a way to power them, and stumbled upon the old idea of antimatter. Unstable and it tends to cause Transformers to explode, but the Liege's troops weren't living long anyway against even Cybertronian picket forces." 

  
  


The massive armored form winced, and said, "The Liege Maximo, lacking in science, decided to go the more mystical rout, and tapped into a dimensional vortex similar to a black hole. The energy is almost an inverse of Matrix power. It makes them stronger, tougher, but also much more aggressive. They'll attack anything at the slightest provocation, and the power gradually eats a Transformer from the inside out. The Liege attacked again, proving far more devastating."

  
  


Convoy shrugged, "It gets pretty simple after that. The Matrixes alone were not enough. The Allspark combined the power of the Matrixes he could gather, creating a junction Matrix for all Matrixes. I was chosen to carry the new Omnimatrix." Convoy looked saddened, "Unfortunately, I got suckered. He rebuilt his forces faster than we anticipated, and we attacked what we thought was the main army, when instead it was merely half of his forces, and I used too much of my energy before facing the Liege himself. I started to attack, but was unprepared to defend myself when the other half of the army attacked. I was forced to retreat, before your Matrix called me here." The two nodded in comprehension.

  
  


"Quite a story," Magnus said, "But if he's coming here, what can we do about it? He still outnumbers us, right?" 

  
  


"Yes," Primus Convoy acknowledged, "But the rest of my forces said they would be arriving shortly, before the Liege arrived, and it's quite possible they picked up reinforcements on Cybertron. For that matter, the Liege himself was greatly weakened, and his troops learned from him. The strongest of his fighters are those with the ambition and cunning to survive, and they would be glad to take the opportunity to topple him. I doubt we'll face his entire force."

  
  


"So, what are we looking at in terms of numbers?" Optimus asked.

  
  


Primus Convoy calculated for a moment, "From the rough mass estimates Cybertron got, perhaps two thousand Transformers and the Liege himself, who is still probably strong enough to destroy Fortress Maximus." The powerful Autobots looked at the armored Maximal in shock. Primus's optics flashed with warmth as he said confidently, "Don't worry, my troops can take the Liege, and then help with mopping up. From what I've seen, your power, along with Maximus's, is sufficient to deal with the troops."

  
  


Optimus Prime shook his head, "Be that as it may, you forget one thing: There will be a great deal of collateral damage from this battle. I vowed to protect the humans, and such a war could destroy this planet. For that matter, Galvatron's forces, while not a match for our forces in open battle, are still quite powerful. If they assisted the Liege, things could be turned against us." 

  
  


Primus grimaced, "I'm unsure how to go about ensuring the humans' safety. That makes things difficult. Still, considering the damage the Predacons and Decepticons took, and the way the Liege's gift ended up ending for them, they may be open to offers."

  
  


Magnus asked incredulously, "Are you crazy? Do you really think Galvatron would help us if we just called him?"

  
  


Optimus held up his hand, "Wait Magnus. Galvatron is opportunistic and rather cowardly. He no doubt feels rather uncertain about the Liege's gift. If we set the situation so that it sounds like the Liege was merely hoping to finish both sides off, he may assist in the hopes of finishing everyone off." Magnus paused for a moment, and then nodded, agreeing with Primus and Prime. 

  
  


"Fine, all right, we'll try it," Magnus said, resigned, "But I AM not going in there to tell them they get to work with Sky-Bite and company." 

  
  


"Fair enough," Primus said, not moving, "But let's give them a little more time. They won today, and they should get a chance to celebrate before being thrown in the thick of it again." 

  
  


*************

  
  


Galvatron looked at the screen in his base skeptically. A large group of Autobots were gathered in their base, communicating via radio. Their postures radiated varying mixes of disgust and anger, and the Autobots had proven to be notoriously bad actors. They were probably on the up-and-up.

  
  


"Very well, Optimus, this alliance would suit my needs," admitted Galvatron. The dragon doubted that the Liege Maximo would come to Earth merely to take second-chair. Galvatron's troops were still not yet repaired, and the loss of Maximus meant he was nowhere near the Liege's power. Then, an idea occurred to Galvatron, who grinned as he raised a hand, "Wait, Autobots. I will commit my forces to your command, but you must repair my ship's FTL core first. With its full reactor power, it is a powerful weapon."

  
  


"You think we're going to just repair your ship so you can leave whenever you want?" X-Brawn asked angrily, "We're desperate, not stupid Galvatron! You lousy-" Optimus placed a calming hand on X-Brawn's shoulder, who used the focus to get his temper under control.

  
  


TAI's face appeared on split screen. "Actually, Optimus, repairing his FTL core would work well for us. The signature from the reactor could be used to call the transwarp exit portal to a location of our choosing somewhere in near-Earth space. And, if we drain the transwarp cells first, it will be several days before they recharge sufficiently to allow a ship with the mass of Galvatron's to safely enter a transwarp portal." 

  
  


Optimus nodded and looked to Galvatron, "Will that suffice, Galvatron?" 

  
  


Galvatron sighed for the Autobots, but internally was gleeful. He could still use the drive to escape himself if things got desperate, and his base, at full power, had a few tricks the Autobots wouldn't be expecting in the end. "Very well, Optimus I accept," he said with feigned reluctance. Galvatron counted Autobots, and then asked in confusion, "But I have to ask: Where's your Maximal and pet trains, anyway?"

  
  


Prowl crossed his arms, looking mutinous, "Supply run, that's all you need to know right now With out different encryptions, this frequency isn't secure enough to explain why."

  
  


Galvatron hissed, but didn't press the point right now. "I'll transmit a location. Have your repair crews meet me there with a secure communications device. We must discuss strategy. We only have four more days before the Liege arrives!"

  
  


************

  
  


The trains and Tremor/Primus Convoy were busy with preparations as well. The group was currently at Sherman Dam, laying out flourescent paint strips along the sides of the canyon down from the dam. Midnight Express asked, "I can understand why they would need a landing field, but why do we need a hydroelectric plant?" 

  
  


Primus held up a small, round, and black device. The most notable features was a small screen, an antenna out the top, and a red button at the bottom. "The Liege's idea of subtlety is to give you an appointment for your demise and show up early," Primus said, "And the better readings we're getting now indicates he jumped an entire fleet worth at the same time. As I'm sure you know, large amounts of real space mass tend to disrupt transwarp portals. Now, we've got a large mass, and the corridor its taking is aimed squarely at Earth"

  
  


Primus Convoy spent a moment tapping the screen, before continuing, "Which means that our reinforcements are going to have trouble creating a stable portal from the nexus anywhere close to Earth. The transwarp corridor the Liege is using has extended to Earth space, even if it hasn't open yet, and it's wide enough to disrupt things for a cubic light year or so, meaning they can't drop out nearby and still get here in time to assist. Luckily, TAI had this signaling device, whose beacon relays current conditions, allowing the good guys' transwarp drive to match the disruptions and create an exit portal ." Convoy pointed at the device, whose screen was currently dim and filled with static.

  
  


"Unfortunately," he sighed, "This little thing isn't powerful enough on its own, so we're going to use the ambient electronic fields to create a signal booster. The paint lines are just for a landing strip," Convoy took a deep breath, vocalizer a bit sore from the heavy exposition, "Didn't Prime brief you on this?" the Maximal demanded.

  
  


"He did, but I was reading Railroading instead of listening," Midnight Express admitted. Rail Spike slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand in exasperation. The other two simply shook their heads. 

  
  


"Primus Convoy to TAI," Convoy radioed after he was sure he had control over his voice back, "I'm moving into position, the landing strip is ready, and the transwarp beacon is on. What's their ETA?"

  
  


TAI called back immediately, "Another two cycles, Convoy. They've found a little more thrust somewhere, and are maneuvering onto their approach vector. Now switching beacon frequency for amplification." The device beeped several times, before the screen cleared, showing two circles, one smaller than the other, with a network of lines around them that bent more sharply towards the circles the closer they got.

  
  


"We're good to go here, TAI," Convoy reported, "How are things going with the others?" Team Bullet Train walked over to listen in.

  
  


"The Build Team, along with Galvatron's group, is still getting final repairs to the ship done from our supplies. The Spychangers are working on modifying the space bridge with the data analysis you provided. If the Liege does threaten populated areas, the modified shielding we can provide with the space bridge extended should last several minutes against even concentrated fire. Everyone else is debating where we should try and lure the Liege's forces to for the battle." 

  
  


Rapid Run rubbed his chin as he contemplated, "Sorry, we go through some boring areas, but I can't think of any good faux lunar landscapes where we don't have to worry about anything dying." 

  
  


Primus snapped his fingers in realization, "You're a genius, Rapid Run!" The train-bot looked at him, slightly confused. The Maximal clarified, "We're going to have a basically working ship shortly, and we were already planning to nudge their exit vector. And Fortress can carry plenty of weight, so that accounts for everyone Galvatron's ship can't. A little Omnimatrix energy to twist space a little, plus the transwarp core from Galvatron's ship, and we might be able to trick them into lunar orbit instead of Earth orbit!" Primus shouted excitedly into his comm-link, "TAI! Dig you get that!"

  
  


"Ow!" she yelped, "Yes, I did. No need to yell. I AM the communications program, you know." TAI's voice softened from scolding, "I'll run it past Galvatron and see what he thinks. You guys have work to do. TAI out." As she finished, the beacon started beeping. A dot was moving along one of the lines on screen.

  
  


"Ride's almost here gentlebots!" Primus announced, "Stay alert. If the rock crumbles, we may need Rail Racer to help support it." Team Bullet Train nodded, as the beacon happily beeped. Far overhead, bright enough to be seen faintly despite the sun in the sky, a glowing blue rift bent space time out of its way. Whatever came out was too distant to be seen with Transformers optics, but shortly thereafter a red glow could be made out as the vessel entered the atmosphere. 

  
  


Several minutes passed before the wine of engines could be made out. Rapid Run quickly spotted it, and said in surprise, "It's a flying... brick?" 

  
  


"A really big one," Rail Spike confirmed, sounding awe-stricken.

  
  


Primus's reinforcements were arriving in a distinctly non-aerodynamic ship, easily a hundred and sixty feet long. It was composed of two tiers of structures: a lower platform with engine thrusters flaring underneath, and eight wheels, each larger than a Transformer, to a side. The second tier, much shorter, perhaps a quarter the length of the lower tier, consisted of several large blocky structures, oddly enough with windows on them. Massive forward-facing cannon sprouted from the structure, and two more huge guns rested on top of the lower tier. Except for the guns, the vessel was painted a pure white, and gleamed in the sun. 

  
  


Despite apparently being in contradiction to normal rules of flying craft, the vessel was making a controlled descent, lining up over the dam and following the painted lines as it flew over the canyon. With a resounding crunch, the vessel touched ground, wheels grinding furrows on either side of the canyon. Luckily, the water at the base served to muffle most of the sound, preventing those nearby from having their audio sensors taken out. After another quarter mile, the massive battle-platform came to a stop, quickly using thrusters to get both wheels on the side of the canyon with the Transformers. Immediately afterward, it rollled back to rest before the Autobots, who made appropriate noises of awe, and the Maximal.

  
  


Primus gestured. "Team Bullet Train, meet my mobile base, known in some circles, mainly themselves, as Team Metroplex. Better go to repair bay mode, big guy," Primus advised, "We'll need your help shortly."

  
  


"Understood," came a massive, deep, voice from the battle station. With the familiar clicking of components, the battle station transformed. The forward section split apart and unfolded into entrance ramps, while the various cannons rose ninety degrees vertically to become towers, quickly resembling a miniature version of a city. A bay opened up at the top of one of the ramps, allowing a car to drive down in front of Team Bullet Train, as the back tower transformed into a tank, and the central tower transformed into a robot, who seemed to be comprised of artillery. The three lined up before the city, the car transforming to robot mode.

  
  


"Rapid Run, Rail Spike, Midnight Express, meet Slammer, Scamper, and Six-gun," Primus introduced, pointing at each turn, with Slammer being the tank, Scamper the car, and Six-gun being the overly armed robot. "These three guys are Metroplex's defense and scout crew, since it takes a lot of power for him to transform against gravity. Metroplex is the big one, and besides being the second biggest Transformer I've ever met, is a triple-changer, a completely independent entity, and has enough firepower to crack a planet open." Metroplex, despite being immobile, seemed to preen. "All right, big guy, you've got work to do. Establish a tactical link with Autobot Command," Primus commanded. He turned to the other three, "I need to do an inspection and inventory on board," he said, "I can stay in contact, but you guys are too big to fit inside his corridors!"

  
  


The massive train-bots looked at each other and nodded. "All right," said Rail Spike, "We'll head back to base. Talk to you later." The three transformed and rolled for the space bridge.

  
  


Primus waved them off, and then turned to Six-gun. "So, bring lots of weapons with?"

  
  


Six-gun nodded and said gleefully, "The latest in firepower. There weren't any extra warriors available, but we've got enough weaponry that the Autobots can mimic an extra army or two, boss! We've got the rest of the normal equipment on board too."

  
  


"Good work," Primus commended, "Now, I'll bring you up to date, and we can figure out weapon distribution. But, Metroplex, I want you to see if the repair bays can cook something up for me with all the extra armaments. Two somethings, actually," Primus said, walking inside and quickly explaining, with the other three following as well. Shortly thereafter, Six-gun's best mad cackle was heard ringing across the deserted power complex.

  
  


**************

  
  


"Two hours until fleet arrival, mighty Galvatron," Sky-Bite reported. The last week had been the busiest since his activation. It had been a while since the base had flown out of the atmosphere, and a great deal had to be checked to ensure that the Predacon base could make orbit. On top of this was long and tedious diagnostics to ensure no trace of the Liege's tainted energon remained in their systems. Still, Sky-Bite was the happiest he'd been in a while. Scourge was gone, and his defeat of Mega-Octane in single-combat had ensured his place as second-in-command.

  
  


Even the approach of doom couldn't damp his elation. Outside the primary control chamber, the Autobot and Maximal fortresses rested, Fortress Maximus to the left and Sky-bite viewed, and Metroplex to the right. The three mighty bases formed a triangle, with the space between the points filled in with heavy artillery donated from either Galvatron's ship's or Metroplex's storage bays. Filling in the triangle were a huge number of solar cells, either emergency parts or quickly manufactured by the Autobots, as well as every solar cell the group could get donated by Earth.. Situated in the middle was a powerful force field generator that the Build Team had slapped together, though the task force's parts bank was now effectively empty. At least, the Autobot and Maximal parts banks were.

  
  


"Understood, Sky-bite. Have you finished the reprogramming?" Galvatron demanded. Sky-bite looked away from the monitor to a small communication screen. He and the other Predacons were busy working to upgrade the base's defense systems, while the Decepticons were being used as grunt labor by the Autobots outside.

  
  


"Of course, mighty Galvatron!" Sky-bite said, hurt, "The base's computer intelligence has been heavily upgraded due to Autobot code modules. As per your instructions, it can now think for itself. I also took the liberty of granting it full control of the weapons."

  
  


"Sky-bite, you fool! What if it decides to take command?" Galvatron said fearfully.

  
  


"Do not worry, Great One. I based it on my personality algorithms. It's completely loyal to you in every way," Sky-bite assured him. 

  
  


Slapper moaned, "Great, we've got a ship with all the initiative of a dumb jellyfish." Galvatron's expression, on screen, seemed to suggest he was thinking the same thing. He was smiling. 

  
  


"Nice work Sky-bite. Have the Predacons finished installing the manual controls in the control center?" Galvatron asked. 

  
  


Sky-bite assured his leader, "Naturally, Galvatron. They're just wiring in a few extra. Cup holders, surround sound, leather seating. The ship is, in many ways, better than the day it was built!"

  
  


"Excellent," Galvatron said, "Especially with the plans the Build Team reconstructed the ship with. The fools were so eager to get out of here they didn't even see what they were building! Transform the ship to battle station mode!" 

  
  


"As you command, Galvatron!" Sky-bite saluted, and nodded to his subordinates. Darkscream pushed a lever newly added to the command console to its midway position.

  
  


Outside, the various Autobots stopped what they were doing in surprise as the base shifted, changing its orientation ninety degrees. The Decepticons, however, started to cheer. Spars began to unfold from the hull, transforming into legs, pincers, and a tail. Several cannon detached to fuse together into a one big cannon on the tail. Soon, it resembled a giant scorpion. A voice crackled over the radio, "What do you think, Autobots? With all the battle fortresses around, I just didn't want to be left out. Behold Scorponok!" 

  
  


"These names are amazing! Where does he get these names?" Mirage whispered over the radio.

  
  


"I heard that, Spychanger," Galvatron replied, voice deathly cold. 

  
  


"Actually, on the subject of new toys," Tremor's voice came over the radio, "Can Optimus and Ultra Magnus come over to Metroplex? I think I've got something that will help make up for leading the Liege here." 

  
  


*************

  
  


Tremor, sans armor, stood outside one of Metroplex's repair bays, with an impatient pair of Autobot heroes before him. "All right, while Metroplex was on Cybertron, I had Six-gun look into some new weapon systems. While you've been gone, some technician named Wheeljack came up with some new heavy armor module designs, but the test subjects' power systems couldn't handle the load, and the project was, with one exception, shelved. You two have Matrix energy, so you may be able to manage."

  
  


"Tremor, have you popped a fuse?" Magnus asked, "We're not trying dangerous untested equipment right before a battle that needs everything we have!"

  
  


"Relax, Magnus," Tremor assured him, "There was one success. I was able to combine the new systems with my Primus armor before I left to take on the Liege. The trick was just finding information about your systems." Tremor knocked on Metroplex's hull and commanded, "Open her up, M!" 

  
  


The bay doors ground open. Visible first was Primus Convoy's armor, in cab mode. This time, it was connected to a heavy, treaded, Cybertronian combat trailer. Heavy turrets rested on each side, equipped with particle cannon, and several missile racks pointed up, along with another two heavy rail guns pointed forward. Tremor pointed at it and explained, "That's the boosted armor. Uses some new subspace manipulation techniques, allowing whoever wears it to be five times faster, as well as having far greater weapon power than is apparent. Of course, I'm not wearing any of the armor so that the Liege doesn't sense our exact position until he arrives." 

  
  


Tremor walked into the bay. Two trailer sections were visible. One was painted blue, the other red. The red one seemed to be a modification of Tremor's, but equipped with heavy ice cannon and rescue equipment. The other one resembled a brick with folded up wings.. "The Optimal and God armors," Tremor announced, "All they need is an activation code from you and they'll obey your commands. They should have full system compatibility, but since they run on Matrix energy, don't activate them quite yet. The Optimal armor will work over your battle mode equipment, Optimus." 

  
  


"Thanks for the new toys kid," Magnus stated, slapping Tremor on the back. "It's nice to see someone who pays their debts after they slight them," Magnus said, pointedly looking at Optimus. 

  
  


"Now's not the time, Magnus," Optimus said wearily. Magnus merely shrugged and transformed to his car carrier mode, linking up with the trailer and driving off. Optimus did the same. 

  
  


"Now's the time for waiting," Tremor said to himself, looking up at the still-quiet sky with unease. There were too many 'ifs', but this was the best plan they'd come up with. Galvatron's ship was already transmitting the signal to pull the Liege too them. They were committed, and despite the odds, Tremor knew they had a better than even chance with this crew.

  
  


***************

  
  


The Liege's fleet was a mishmash of ships, with no centralized theme, even a color scheme, besides a tight formation. Slightly over twenty-one hundred Transformers rode in that fleet, which, besides the usual deadly array, was armed with the most powerful missiles the Liege could gather, to scour the life from the planet the Autbots had dared to guard against him. Far more powerful was what the fleet escorted. 

  
  


All surrounded the mighty bulk of the Liege Maximo, greatest of evil Transformers, and quite possibly the first. He had been around for seemingly every upgrade to Transformer biology, and had all of them applied to himself. He was almost three hundred feet high, and strong enough to punch through a mountain. Even more terrifying, his regeneration abilities had handled in a short week the life-threatening injuries dealt to him by Primus Convoy.

  
  


Ahead of him, a solid wall of light beckoned. It had been child play to track the Maximal's path, and the Liege had started conquering in this direction, as he had caught a glimpse of what lay at the end of the corridor. Cybertron's position had been found, and he would finally end what had been started so long ago. He had scattered calls to the laughable bands of Predacons and Decepticons in this sector, hoping to weaken Cybertron's defenses beforehand, not expecting a drained Primus Convoy's position to be dropped in his lap.

  
  


Tremor would not leave, as long as there were Predacons threatening Autobots, that much the Liege had discovered. That Maximal's destruction would be pleasant enough, but Galvatron had been foolish enough to allow Cerebro in his communication equipment's visual pickup range. The legendary Autobot was here, power the Liege Maximo's for the taking! Better yet, Optimus Prime himself, hero of the Cybertronian Wars, was on Cybertron with hand-picked troops Cybertron's own defense forces were the cowards who had stayed at home rather than fulfill the Autobot mission. The body shells the Liege would display for their perusal would destroy Cybertron's morale. And at last, that jewel of the heaven would be his.

  
  


"My liege," reported his second-in-command. "You wanted me to inform you when we were about to reach Earth orbit. All ships report ready with weapons armed, and attack routes have already been laid into their battle computers. We estimate a ninety percent total elimination of the Earth's biosphere within the first three cycles." 

  
  


"Excellent. Order all ships to remove safeties from their weapons now, and begin firing before we leave the transwarp portal," ordered the Liege. "No doubt some sort of surprise awaits us upon exit." The Liege smiled, a bit of sadistic amusement evident in his voice when he continued, "I realize there may be casualties among our forces, but only if my troops have somehow let their ships get beneath top efficiency. I'm sure that's not the case, and as you are in charge of the fleet's defenses and readiness, I'm sure you concur and will give the order personally."

  
  


The commander gulped, the time he had been dreading had finally come. The fleet had been worked hard, covering such a distance without reverting to normal space for rest. Parts had been cannibalized to keep drives functioning, and the commander knew that people would die once he gave the order. Their friends would remember, and he would no longer be safe. To delay the order was instant death. The Liege hated to delegate, and took it out by ensuring that his executive officers were too busy fighting to maintain what little power they had to attempt to gain his. 

  
  


Cursing the day he had, in greed, taken the post, the commander opened up communications with the entire fleet. 

  
  


*************

  
  


"Transwarp activity detected," Metroplex rumbled. "Target locus emerging in attack grid five by two." The Transformers sprung into motion, having rested as much as possible these last few hours. The plan had worked, and the attack had been diverted to the moon. Transformers streamed out of the three bases where they had been preparing, quickly combining or powering up as appropriate. Cerebros quickly combined with Fortress Maximus, and the giant raised his arms to the sky. Scorponok aimed his tail, and smaller turrets swivelled up. Metroplex's towers swung around, but he didn't transform to a more mobile mode. While this form had the least cannons of Metroplex's three forms, it also had the best air-defense capability.

  
  


"Okay, let's try this out," Optimus suggested after hitting battle mode to Magnus. His brother nodded, and the two quickly activated the two trailers. "Super-battle mode!" the two cried.

  
  


The battle-platforms split apart. Magnus gained a new helmet, armed with a small cannon in the middle, as well as large guns on either arm to go with his Blue Bolts. Red wings bolted to his back, their thrusters increasing his flight ability. Additional armor bolted to his legs and chest as a blue sword, practically his height, formed itself from energy in his off-hand. Magnus snapped it with a flourish, watching lightning race off from the hilt. "Oh, I'm liking this!" he said, eager to get started in battle. Ultra Magnus's transformation didn't add much in the way of armor, rather even more firepower and greater maneuverability.

Optimus's transformation was a bit more involved. A second ladder-type structure landed upon his opposite shoulder, creating a downward facing 'v' of the two. A second massive chestpiece landed upon him, with a glowing blue jewel in the center, focus for the inherent energies of his Matrix. New gauntlets bolted themselves on, with heavy rifles underslung, allowing him to use his old battle-mode firepower as well as the new. Heavy missile launchers attached at the waist, and two small Gatling guns were added to each shoulder. Finally, heavy wing-like blades sprouted from the outside of each gauntlet, making every part of Optimus Prime a devastating weapon.

  
  


"All right," Tremor said with enthusiastic determination. "Let's do it. Transform and prepare to combine!" The cab honked enthusiastically for a moment. Jets suddenly fired from the front of the cab as it lifted into the air. The connecting arm behind it folded down into blue legs, and the headlight section and doors spread out to form arms and shoulders. A head sprung out, resembling Prime's facemask, but with pointed antenna on the side, as well as a gold v-crest on the forehead. The turret from the hood split apart into twin shoulder mounted missile launchers, while the mighty rail guns dropped into the hands of the transformed cab. 

  
  


Tremor stood in between the two shell halves, and closed his eyes. Golden light poured out of him, filling the space in between the armor's hands. The armor's new optics glowed blue, and suddenly the armor sealed itself around Tremor, leaving no apparent seal. Indeed, for this was a new robot created of the life-force within, and the armor without.

  
  


"And finally, Primus Convoy," said the Maximal with a flourish, "Activate super-battle mode!" The trailer split itself apart. Side turrets combined with Primus's missile launchers, forming powerful plasma cannon. The two rail guns slid out and transformed, becoming stocks and grips that merged with Primus's previous rail rifles, forming dual fusion cannon. Additional armor bolted itself over his frame, with the missile racks joining to become a powerful jetpack. Twin sword hilts slid from the top, ready to be summoned if necessary. "Super-battle mode on-line!" Convoy shouted, before power-posing.

  
  


The troops were now fully assembled, hands uneasily gripping weapons as Metroplex calmly counted down to the coming inferno. "Four millicycles to emergence, transwarp portal forming..." But the rift's slow appearance was punctuated as a flotilla of missiles shot out of the still small portal's opening. Many raced into space, but the Transformers let out exclamations as several missiles exploded against the shield, causing it to waver dangerously.

  
  


"Optimus!" Hightower shouted, "The shield's integrity is dropping fast! We were keeping it low so we could still store some more power, and we hadn't finished bringing it up to full capability when those missiles hit! Our 'gunholes' through the shield are destabilizing. If we shoot, we may damage our own shielding!" 

  
  


"Optimus!" X-Brawn shouted as Hightower was finishing, "We've got ships spilling out of the transwarp gate. They're confused and their formation is breaking apart!"

  
  


"Open fire, then, you fool!" yelled Galvatron, cutting across the transmission. Scorponok did as told, blasting from his tail cannon, the bolt hit the shield, but only a flickering energy beam licked at an enemy cruiser, the rest raining down back at the Transformers.

  
  


"Galvatron, hold your fire! We can't shoot them," Optimus ordered. "We'll have to wait for the Build Team to get the generator stabilized."

  
  


"I'm not sure we can, Optimus," Wedge said, "The generator's at full output, and it's been a while since we've worked on this sort of system. We screw up, it could fry the generator, or worst, us."

  
  


"Then let's just drop it," Primus said as he entered the discussion, "The Liege's forces are in no shape to fire back for at least another few moments. We might be able to stretch that moment out, but only if we fire now!"

  
  


"Agreed," Optimus said, "Shut it down, and Autobots.. open fire!" The shield turned opaque for a moment before disappearing. Fortress Maximus raised his arms, massive firepower questing outwards, smashing ships to kindling. The heavy energy artillery put together did the same, slicing through the smaller ships like butter. Then Metroplex fired, causing a massive explosion to bloom out from the ship he struck, the shockwave engulfing and shattering several more ships. 

  
  


"Predacons, Decepticons, show no mercy!" Galvatron yelled, with bloodthirsty eagerness. He'd be burning in the Pit if it meant that the Autobots would show him up now. Scorponok's tail straightened up, the laser beam generated casually spearing a heavy attack cruiser as it emerged from the wormhole.

  
  


Most of the Transformers merely waited, their weapons not having the range to attack. Things were going well, Primus Convoy reflected. Fewer ships than expected were spilling out, along with excess debris, and it looked like the rogue missiles would harmlessly impact on the moon's dead surface. 

  
  


Still, good things didn't last forever. The stand-alone cannon's rate of fire slowed as the heat buildup within the weapons, with no escape from the undiminished lunar sun, began to affect their systems. For that matter, the sheer amount of debris, both from the Transformers as well as that coming out of the transwarp gate, was beginning to throw off their targeting.

  
  


The good times lasted for another few Earth minutes, before a brave commander managed to rally his crew long enough to have a set of particle beams strike down at the surface. With no atmosphere to diffract them, the powerful energy beams cut through a quarter of the energy artillery the Transformers had put together. The simple commander paid quickly and dearly for his boldness, but the damage had been done. The Build Team was still busy fixing the shield generator, and without them to reprogram the cannons, gaps were left in the attack pattern, which Liege ships quickly began to fill up. 

  
  


Then, the Liege himself appeared, and was actually large enough to show up against the transwarp rift's backdrop. The massive bases directed their firepower upon such a target, but the Liege held out a hand, enwrapping his fleet with a forcefield. Now protected, the fleet did nothing as the remnants moved out of the rift. They hovered for a few moments, letting their imposing might strike at the Transformer's morale. 

  
  


"Forcefield's back up," stated Wedge, who never cared much for mind games unless it meant kicking a Predacon's head module around a field. The energy dome once again covered the Transformers, shrouded just as impassively behind energy barriers. 

  
  


"Stalemate," Ultra Magnus murmured. Magnus was right, in the short term. Their forcefield was far smaller, and they had the supplies to keep it running for quite a while. Unfortunately, as a fixed installation, the shield could be pounded upon by all sides, while the Liege's ship's darted around and took far less hits. 

  
  


Primus Convoy's voice came over, "It won't be. He may think he can just probe our defenses and pound us, but I've got a way to break him. He'll do the ground assault we want soon enough," the Maximal confidently predicted, even as he jetted over to Fort Max.

  
  


************

  
  


The Liege Maximo smiled in evil joy. The Autobots nibbled at his fleet, but their shields were already wavering. Soon, he would crush them into scrap.

  
  


Such 'pleasant' thoughts were driven from his head when an energy beam struck through the shield at his immobile form. The energy beam merely licked at his might armor, but damage had been done to the Liege's formidable pride. Narrowing his optics, the Liege roared in anger when he saw Primus standing on Fortress Maximus's shoulder, golden energy enveloping both of them. Another bolt sprang up, and, fueled by the Omnimatrix, cut through the dark shield to strike at the Liege's form.

  
  


"Commander, bring our troops down! I want these mechanoids exterminated!" the Liege roared.

  
  


"Sir, we must reconsider. We cannot maintain the shield integrity around all ships during landing. Also, at this range we face far less opposition-" the commander never got to finish his statement, as a blast launched from the Liege's optics incinerated the ship he was in. 

  
  


"Land our ships and prepare for ground assault!" the Liege hissed, and terrified, his troops moved to comply. The ships broke apart, dropping at different rates, and several were forced out of the shield, where the hungry guns' appetite for destruction was slaked by a minuscule amount before the deadly beams quested out again.

  
  


********

  
  


"They're landing, Optimus," Side Burn said unnecessarily, "The shield won't last long against concentrated fire at short range." 

  
  


"That's all right, Side Burn," Mangus commented, "Neither will they. And they'll lose a lot more ships before they can land."

  
  


Gas Skunk noted gloomily, "Though that means we're only going to be facing the troops from the tough and lucky ships."

  
  


"Separating the wheat from the chaff," Magnus said with satisfaction, "But the numbers will be a lot closer to even now, so you can't complain about that."

  
  


Sky-bite countered, "I beg to differ. My troops can be gloomy about anything!"

  
  


"You hold," Darkscream whispered to Slapper, "I punch." The frog nodded in agreement.

  
  


"Enough!" Galvatron shouted from his point on top of Scorponok, overseeing the activity. "The ships are landing in the west. Predacons, Decepticons, prepare for combat!" he ordered. Ruination and the Predacons trotted in that direction, most of the other Autobots joining them, with the Spychangers staying back to guard the facilities, along with more time to scout the enemy before trying one of their maneuvers. Behind them, the cannons continued to spout deadly fire, until after several tense minutes, the ships dropped beneath a hill.

  
  


Things were silent, figuratively as well as literally, for several minutes. Hands gripped guns nervously, as Metroplex shifted to his battle station mode in preparation, as he rolled around to face west.

  
  


Hotshot came over the radio, "Decepticon signatures coming in! Twenty seconds until visual contact, for all you who can't remember Cybertronian time anymore..." The group went to work, weapons carefully aimed at the rise, and the Build Team frantically adjusted the shielding.

  
  


The Spychanger was right to the millisecond. The first group that came over the ground were on foot, and quickly opened fire upon the shield. The Build Team had been successful, though, and the defenders fire passed cleanly through shielding that blocked the opposition, smashing into the Liege's troops. 

  
  


The second wave was smarter, lying on their bellies with only their weapons and optics truly visible, making them much harder targets. The forcefield started to wave under the strain, but Primus Convoy just raised his hand. Metroplex fired into the hill with his lighter weaponry, the gamma ray blasts so powerful it simply cut through the hill before causing the ground to explode on the other side. There was a brief rain of mechanical parts. 

  
  


Following that was a rain of high explosives. Many Transformers flew overhead in jet mode, too quickly for the forcefield openings and cannons to be aligned to attack them. The Liege's troops dropped bomb after bomb on the weakening forcefield. Primus Convoy seemed to pay no mind, as the Maximal's eyes were closed and he seemed distant.

  
  


"Enough of this," Galvatron finally said in frustration, as Scorponok was reduced to snapping his claws bitterly at the troops overhead. "Drop the forcefield and prepare to attack!"

  
  


The bearer of the Omnimatrix's eyes snapped open at that. "Belay that!" he shouted. The Build Team complied, despite Tremor having very little real authority here, his presence was powerful enough to demand respect. 

  
  


"If we do not drop the forcefield and fire back, the generator will short out in a few moments," Galvatron said, irritated.

  
  


"Listen, you giant white dope," said Primus, his voice raising for the first time on Earth. "Do you think we're the only ones with artillery? The Maximo's troops have landed, and our position's still fixed with all our artillery. This is just a diversion until the big strike happens."

  
  


"Massive energy flow approaching," Maximus stated calmly, despite the import of his news. A few seconds later, a massive barrage of energy fire slammed against the shield, actually shaking the ground from the sheer force against the energy dome. 

  
  


"The shields won't take another hit," Wedge grimly predicted, "Which means its time to join the action!" he said brightly. "Combine and form Landfill!" The four Build Team members quickly spun together into their battle form, which trotted briskly towards the remnant's of the ridge. Optimus covered his face with one hand and groaned, before readying his weapons for battle.

  
  


"We've got to stop that fire!" Primus yelled, "Metroplex, I could use a ride!" The massive battlestation drove over, and Primus jetted on top of the structure. "Once the shield goes down, charge through the opposition. I need to keep the Liege from coordinating his troops, and that means a duel." 

  
  


"Understood. Hang on tight," Metroplex said loudly over the radio, before charging forward, running over the first line of troops before clearing the second with its side-mounted gamma ray blasters. Primus kept the sides clear as he swept off especially dangerous-looking opponents with his arm-mounted fusion cannon, so powerful that even after vaporizing a Transformer there was enough power to bake the lunar surface into glass. 

  
  


After several heart-in-throat moments (especially due to the fact no hundred-foot long road vehicle has great suspension), the duo, a bit scratched for their efforts, came into view of the beached ships, great whales washed up on the moon's shore. But, there was no demonic figure standing over them. "Where's the Liege?" Metroplex asked, "I don't see him!" Metroplex contented himself for the moment by chopping the base ships and the artillery into radioactive scrap. 

  
  


"He should be clearly visible," Primus Convoy said, slightly confused, "I can sense that he's right in this area. I can't get a lock though, he's retracted his shields to hide himself." Primus's optics widened, "Metroplex, dodge left now!" 

  
  


The mighty fortress started to turn, but he was too large to corner quickly, and an explosion from above them slammed into the ground to the right of Metroplex, who started to overturn in the lighter gravity. Primus Convoy used his rockets to boost clear as Metroplex flipped over, temporarily stunned.

  
  


"You thought I used all my tricks in our last fight?" the Liege said, practically chortling with amusement. "I command the darkness, both spiritual and actual! You have reduced my forces, but I can sense the Omnimatrix in you is perhaps at half power, if that."

  
  


Primus simply hovered in mid-air, not replying to the demonic mechanical before him as he studied for weakness. The outer armor seemed to be repaired from last time, and even the wound Metroplex had delivered a few minutes beforehand was starting to seal itself with dark purple energy. However, something was happening below the surface. Or, more accurately, it wasn't.

  
  


Primus smiled, "Decepticon, you may as well retreat now! If you do, you may yet live!"

  
  


"Foolish words, Maximal!" The Liege roared, sending a blast of energy that Primus casually blocked. The Maximal glanced behind him. If the blast had not been stopped, it would have blasted through the remaining troop ships.

  
  


"Foolish?" Primus said with disdain, "You can't even distinguish your own troops any more! Your quest for power means you're rotting from the inside out!" 

  
  


The Liege's eyes narrowed, "You will pay for stating such before my troops," he said calmly, before igniting jets on his back that sent him charging forward, one hand reaching out to snatch Primus from the air. The Maximal unleashed his heavy cannon, fusion beams and plasma licking out and ripping through the armor, and vaporizing the delicate circuits that lay beneath. Despite the hole torn through his palm, the Liege did not flinch or cry out as he tried to squeeze the life from the brave Maximal.

  
  


Primus surrounded himself once again in a globe of golden energy. Energy crackled and spat from where the two adversaries were in contact. The Maximal drew back slightly as he saw lubricant dripping from the damage he had inflicted in reaction to the damage he had inflicted, then gasped in surprised as metal further down hissed where the black ichor came in contact. The Liege was being eaten out from the inside.

  
  


Suddenly, Primus went hurtling through the air, and into a cluster of the Liege's troops. The Maximal was still protected, but the Decepticons exploded as the Omnimatrix energy, being used to block, crushed them against the lunar surface. The robotic minions drew back, afraid of what the Liege would do as they began to flee his wrath. 

  
  


Primus, reminded of his duty, once again turned to face the Liege. Cannons had extended from the monstrous robot's wrists, and large bolts of energy began to rain down around the Maximal's position. Primus began to flit back and forth, trying to conserve energy, but then saw the energy blasts destroying the helpless troops. Grimly, Primus extended his energy screen to cover the whole area.

  
  


"Foolish Maximal compassion!" said with a curious mixture of satisfaction and disgust, "Protection of others will be your downfall! Your power is not infinite, at least, not on the scale you and I operate at. Like so many other Convoys and Primes, I will rip the life from your shell and feed on the Matrix within!" 

  
  


Primus could feel weariness start to settle into his circuits, and knew the Liege was correct in that he was not at full power. Perhaps he should have taken more of the Autobot's offer of their energon. Still, if the Liege thought raw power was everything, he would be sadly mistaken. With a quick mental gesture, the energy field shifted subtly, reflecting the Liege's blasts upon him. Armor was reduced to droplets by the fury of the blasts, and the Liege howled, and ceased attacking for a moment. Primus quickly dropped his shield and blasted through the Liege's wrist cannon's power cables with two quick salvos. 

  
  


The Liege dropped to his knees, sending huge furrows through the Earth. Metroplex, next to him, skidded back on to his wheels, but was apparently still unconscious, making no movement. Black ichor hissed at the wounds that his own weaponry had opened in his body. "Making me battle now, when I was so close!" the Liege roared in fury. His chest plate suddenly opened, revealing a red orb, swirling with a variety of shades of black. It's radius was easily about twenty meters. "Do you know what this is, Maximal?" the Liege asked rhetorically, "It is the sum of all the valiant leaders of your kind I have defeated. I have swallowed their Sparks, and their energy bows to my will!" A massive stream of red energy launched. Despite Primus's hastily raised shields, it shoved him backwards. If not for thrusters on maximum burn at the last moment, he would have been crushed beneath the force.

  
  


"They are Matrix-touched as well, foolish Maximal!" shouted the Liege, "Your energies are in synch on a fundamental level!" The Liege extended cannons from his sides and shoulders, and began to fire, causing the barrier to flare. "You will be a shining jewel in my collection, Maximal, and your energy source will go a long way towards making up the losses suffered here today." The Liege smiled lazily as Primus's barriers, now a sphere, continued to shrink under the bombardment. "Do not fear, Maximal," he consoled, "Your death is not a meaningless pip in our war. For your death will prove my mastery of the mystical side... and I will restore my physical side by taking the body of Cybertron's greatest champion, Fortress Maximus himself!" 

  
  


Primus's optics widened in horror. Hundred of Sparks in a living death, cut off from the Matrix. And worst yet were what the Maximo's plans would mean to the universe. Complete with his powers, and the body of the great Autobot, the Liege would be welcomed through Cybertron's outer defenses, and then that power would wreak untold devastation. "If you think I'll let that happen, Maximo, you're sadly mistaken!" 

  
  


Primus let his shields retract around his body. The Maximo was able to arm the Spark blast better than his regular cannons, and most of the troops had left the area anyway, allowing the Maximal to conserve some energy as he sought strength from within. The Maximo, naturally, misinterpreted the gesture and gloated, "You think you have a choice!"

  
  


Primus suddenly grinned, and launched a column of golden energy from his hands instead of the shield. The Maximo's cannons began to impact on him, but his armor was more than strong enough to take a few hits. The golden light struck the dark beam shot from the Liege. This was not intended to destroy or defend, but rather to heal. The energy beam from the Liege suddenly turned blue, reaching the orb and purifying it as well. The dying Transformer screamed out denials, but to no avail. The energy was no back under the Sparks control, and the orb shattered as the fallen Sparks moved on to the next plane. 

  
  


The Liege collapsed heavily against the ground, most of his power lost. The mighty Maximal cut off the energy beam. "All right, Metroplex!" Primus shouted. Metroplex, long forgotten in the fight, suddenly changed to robot mode. Primus Convoy flew over, and landed on the massive warrior's shoulder, leaning one hand against the head. Metroplex raised his forearm guns and carefully sighted for the Liege's laser core, ready to remove his evil from the universe.

  
  


"What," hissed the Liege, "If you still had the city's power, why not use it? Why risk yourself?" 

  
  


"Two reasons: Metroplex's power and armor were best conserved against your remaining hordes fighting the Autobots. More importantly, I sensed the tainted energies within you, and would not let you die without first seeing them off to their just rest," explained Primus nobly. "Metroplex, finish this. Such darkness should not remain in the universe!"

"Affirmative," stated the massive white-armored form. A quick burst from the antimatter cannon's shattered the remaining armor over the Liege's laser core, releasing his Spark to, hopefully, become better in the next life.

  
  


"I doubt the Autobts and Predacons left much, Metroplex," Primus said after a moment's silence, "But we might as well help clean up there!" Metroplex nodded, nearly unseating the Maximal, before jogging off back to the battle. 

  
  


************

  
  


Fortunately, their presence was not needed. Between Megatron's new toy, and the power of the armors Tremor had brought for the Autobot leaders, the forces that had not scattered and retreated upon hearing of the Liege's insanity were quickly being beaten. As Metroplex made it into view, an energy blast from Ultra Magnus's new sword and a massive plasma blast from the emitter on Optimus's chest finished off the last. The Autobots, and their allies, were successful upon the blasted lunar landscape. The group cheered upon seeing the duo's successful return, and cheered even louder upon hearing the end of the Liege.

  
  


************

  
  


"It'll be a shame to lose you, Tremor," Optimus said, shaking the smaller robot's hand. Several days had passed. Metroplex and Scorponok rested on an open field, making final preparations for lift-off and then travel back to Cybertron. Several burns still rested on the massive Decepticon base's body, but it looked otherwise fit.

  
  


"It's a shame to leave, Optimus," Tremor replied, sounding melancholy, "Knowing that the last of your battles has been fought. Still, Galvatron needed someone to ride herd over on the travel back to Cybertron. He'll get sentenced fairly heavily, and I'm rather surprised he didn't go down in a blaze of glory when he realized how outnumbered he was on the moon." 

  
  


Optimus countered, "Your suggestion of amnesty, as well as incorporating the Decepticon and Predacons here as mercenaries into Cybertron's defense forces, was a good one. They'll still get to fight, just for all of our common enemies. I wouldn't be surprised if it's applied generally."

  
  


Tremor shrugged, "I think you're giving me too much credit," he said modestly. Suddenly, Scorponok started to impatiently beep. "I guess I need to get going. I'll call as soon as I get to Cybertron, but I'm glad to see Earth remaining in such capable hands!" Tremor transformed into jet mode to fly to Metroplex's control chambers. "Take care of Maximus!"

  
  


"We will," Optimus called, "Have a safe trip!" After that, the two might bases lifted off into the skies above, ready once again to join the fight against evil.

  
  


The End

  
  


Author's notes: Feel.... dirty and unclean. Still, I think I got everything. Quick mention of harem, easy solving of all problems, rapid playing of life with god mode codes on... 

  
  


This thing is huge, but there's a lot of cliches to get in, and I wanted to write this somewhat decently. Please vote for this entry! Besides, isn't quantity a Mary Sue cliche?

  
  


Oh, the name comes from a character I played on a BWTF MUSH. Tremor was a Predacon geologist, with low firepower and he couldn't hit anything. He was a lot of fun to roleplay, and nothing like this guy (thankfully). Still, I honor him by creating a Maximal paladin... Well, no I don't, but it's still a good Transformer name. 


End file.
